URBANA, Ill. - The Purdue men's tennis team (8-9, 0-2) will continue its search for a conference win this weekend, after losing 5-2 at No. 7 Illinois on Sunday. The Boilermakers previously fell to Indiana 5-0 at home, but are confident about their chances against Michigan State on Saturday. Purdue swept the Spartans 7-0 in 2017 and 4-0 in 2016.
Against the Fighting Illini, the Boilermakers were unable to capture the doubles point, slipping on courts two and three. Freshmen Mateo Julio and Maksymilian Raupuk lost 6-2 to Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi at the second position, while South American duo Renan Hanayama and Javier Rodriguez were overpowered by Zeke Clark and Noe Khlif 6-1 at the third. No. 56 Athell Bennett and Gergely Madarasz's court one contest was left unfinished at four all.
In singles, Bennett was Purdue's only player to secure a first set; however, the sophomore needed a third set breaker to defeat Chakravarthi 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 1-0 (10-7) at the fifth position. Similarly, Julio earned the Boilermakers' only other point of the dual in three, besting Khlif 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 on court four.
Madarasz, Rodriguez, Raupuk and newcomer Ali Mooraj all lost in straight sets against Illinois.