Vols Dominate Day One of Fighting Illini Invitational

URBANA, Ill. – Day one of the Fighting Illini Invitational saw the Tennessee men's tennis team win 10 of 11 matches, including seven singles victories.

The day began with the Vols and Blue Raiders of MTSU, as Tennessee swept its three doubles matches.

The 48^th-ranked doubles pair of senior Emile Hudd and freshman Shunsuke Mitsui continued their recent success, defeating MTSU's 21^st-ranked Stijn Slump/Pavel Motl, 6-4. Mitsui is now 14-2 in doubles this fall, as the Big Orange duo improved to 9-1 as a pairing.

Sophomore Johannus Monday and senior Martim Prata—the nation's 33^rd-ranked doubles pair—dished out a bagel as they took down Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Chris Edge, 6-0. Graduate student Mark Wallner and junior Angel Diaz won in convincing fashion Friday, 6-1 over MTSU's Francisco Rocha and Stepan Holis.

The Vols were relentless in singles play, winning seven of eight matches.

With a 6-2, 6-3 win over #109 Slump of MTSU, graduate student and fifth-ranked Adam Walton collected his 99^th career singles win Friday, with a chance Saturday to become the 11^th Vol all-time to reach 100 career victories.

Sixth-ranked Monday subjugated #38 Rocha of MTSU, 6-4, 6-1. No. 29 Prata defeated Poulson 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3, while #95 Hudd handled Holis, 6-4, 6-2.

Mitsui took down Motl, 6-4, 6-1 and Wallner overpowered Lucas Olivier, 6-1, 6-1. Freshman Conor Gannon trounced Mattia Bernardi, 6-4, 6-1, while Diaz dropped a second-set tiebreak to #104 Edge, falling 4-6, 6-7(4).

Tennessee and Illinois will begin action Saturday at 11 a.m. ET. Live streaming of the event can be found here.

Results
Doubles
#48 Hudd/Mitsui (Tennessee) def. #21 Slump/Motl (MTSU), 6-4
#33 Monday/Prata (Tennessee) def. Poulson/Edge, (MTSU), 6-0
Wallner/Diaz (Tennessee) def. Rocha/Holis (MTSU), 6-1

Singles
#6 Monday (Tennessee) def. #38 Rocha (MTSU), 6-4, 6-1
#5 Walton (Tennessee) def. #109 Slump (MTSU), 6-2, 6-3
#29 Prata (Tennessee) def. Poulson (MTSU), 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3
#95 Hudd (Tennessee) def. Holis (MTSU), 6-4, 6-2
Mitsui (Tennessee) def. Motl (MTSU), 6-4, 6-1
#104 Edge (MTSU) def. Diaz (Tennessee), 6-4, 7-6(4)
Wallner (Tennessee) def. Olivier (MTSU), 6-1, 6-1
Gannon (Tennessee) def. Bernardi (MTSU), 6-4, 6-1

Saturday's Schedule
11 a.m. ET – Illinois and Tennessee
3 p.m. ET – Arizona State and Middle Tennessee

University of Tennessee Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Angel Diaz

Conor Gannon

Emile Hudd

Shunsuke Mitsui

Johannus Monday

Martim Prata

Mark Wallner

Adam Walton

Related Videos