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THIS WEEK:
The University of Iowa men’s tennis team will host four matches at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex this weekend. Iowa will host No. 7 Illinois on Saturday (noon), followed matches against Northwestern (noon) and South Dakota State (3:30 and 5:30 p.m.) on Sunday. Admission is free to the public.
WATCH MATCHES ONLINE:
All Iowa home matches are available for fans to watch online for free via Playsight Technology. Click on the “Watch” link on the schedule page on hawkeyesports.com.
LAST WEEKEND RECAP:
• Iowa lost a tough match to No. 35 Minnesota on Friday, 4-3, in Iowa City.
• Wisconsin topped Iowa, 4-0, on Sunday in Madison in Iowa’s first Big Ten road match.
#7 ILLINOIS PREVIEW:
• The Fighting Illini enters Saturday’s match 12-5 overall and are tied with Minnesota and Ohio State for first in the Big Ten (3-0). Illinois has won six of its last seven matches.
• The Illini boast two ranked singles players: Alex Brown (59) and Aron Hiltzik (103).
• Illinois leads the all-time series over Iowa, 64-21.
NORTHWESTERN PREVIEW:
• The Wildcats enter Sunday’s match 6-9 overall. Northwestern will play Texas Tech on Wednesday and Nebraska on Friday before traveling to Iowa City.
• Northwestern has won two straight matches, including a 4-2 victory over Indiana.
• Antonioni Fasano is ranked 115th nationally in singles, while Ben Vandixhorn and Dominik Starý are ranked No. 56 in doubles.
• Northwestern leads the all-time series over Iowa, 66-24.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE PREVIEW:
• The Jack Rabbits enter Sunday’s match winless in 12 contests this season.
• Sunday’s doubleheader will be the first meeting between Iowa and South Dakota State.
HAWKEYE NOTEABLES:
• The Hawkeyes are 8-3 this season at home this season at the HTRC.
• Josh Silverstein is 7-0 this season when his singles matches extend to a third set.
• Jake Jacoby moved into a tie for ninth place in career doubles wins at Iowa with 55.
• Six Big Ten teams are ranked in the ITA Top 50.
DOUBLES SUCCESS:
• The Hawkeyes boast two top rated tandems in the country: No. 40 Piotr Smietana/Will Davies and No. 70 Jonas Larsen/Kareem Allaf.
• Freshmen Will Davies and Piotr Smietana have won 11 of their last 13 decisions.
STARTING MATCHES STRONG:
Iowa has earned the doubles point in 13 of its 18 matches. The Hawkeyes lost the doubles point to No. 4 Georgia by a narrow margin, dropping courts one and two in tiebreakers.
Jonas Larsen and Kareem Allaf are 9-6 on court one in doubles, with one of their defeats coming in a tiebreak (7-3) to Georgia’s eighth-ranked doubles squad in the nation.
