The NCAA tennis national championship tournaments will return to the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex later this month.
The event is the centerpiece of the collegiate tennis scene, and the quest to hold it in Champaign-Urbana — for the first time in 2013 — was a prime reason that the Illini’s outdoor tennis complex was expanded on the east side of Atkins Tennis Center in the years after the UI won the NCAA men’s team title in 2003.
There are two portions to the championships. The team title, featuring eight teams, will be decided May 19-22. That precedes the singles and doubles championships on May 23-28.
The Illini men and women did not qualify for the 64-squad team competition, which as of May 10 had been narrowed to 16. (See the men’s bracket here.) However, Illinois grad transfer Olivier Stuart was selected to compete in the 64-player men’s singles competition. Stuart finished the season ranked 59th in the ITA Rankings, including a win against No. 40 Mason Beiler of Oklahoma. (No Illini women advanced to the singles or doubles competition.)
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For the team competition, matches shall be regulation dual matches. Three doubles matches consisting of six-game sets will be played for one team point, followed by six singles matches, each valued at one team point; played the best of three sets. No-ad scoring will be used and a seven-point tiebreaker (first to seven points, must win by two points) will be played at six-games-all. The team winning four or more team points advances in the championship bracket.
During the championship, all matches will be stopped after the doubles point is decided. All remaining individual matches will be stopped once a team winner (four points won) has been determined. The score will only reflect completed matches.