Hoosiers face No. 9 Illinois, rival Purdue in final home set

The fun and games are over for the No. 66 IU men’s tennis team. \nComing off an exciting, come-from-behind win at then-No. 57 Northwestern, the Hoosiers (13-8, 3-3) face a pair of tough matches this weekend at home against No. 9 Illinois (13-6, 5-1) and rival Purdue (8-9, 1-5).\nIllinois is one of the most storied programs in recent years, winning every Big Ten title from 1997-2005, setting an NCAA-record 64-match winning streak and winning the 2003 NCAA championship. \nThose Illini teams were led by current Association of Tennis Professionals Tour players Amer Delic, Rajeev Ram and Brian Wilson. \n“It’s a good program,” IU coach Ken Hydinger said. “I believe the last time we played them here we lost to them 4-3, two years ago. It’s a great opportunity for us.”\nAlthough the Hoosiers lead the all-time series against Illinois, the Fighting Illini have taken the last 12 matches, winning by combined match scores of 65-14.\nIllinois is led by two highly ranked juniors: No. 5 Kevin Anderson and No. 15 Ryan Rowe. Anderson and Rowe are the defending NCAA doubles champions and are currently No. 10 in the nation. \n“I’m excited for that (match),” IU junior and No. 1 doubles player Thomas Richter said. “Hopefully we do well, and if we beat them, that would awesome.”\nRichter, recently named the Big Ten men’s tennis athlete of the week for two singles and doubles wins each this past weekend, leads the Hoosiers at No. 1 singles. Senior David Bubenicek is at No. 2. \nBubenicek, who is coming off back-to-back wins against ranked opponents, lost a tough three-set match last year at No. 2 versus Illinois, but said he is treating this match no differently than any others.\n “Well I want to win every single match, so I want to win this one as well,” Bubenicek said.\nOn Sunday, the Hoosiers are set to battle the Purdue Boilermakers in their last home match of the year. Even though this is not basketball or football, the rivalry still stands.\n“It’s Purdue and Indiana, right?” Hydinger asked. “It’s a really significant rival.”\nThe Boilermakers began the year 7-0, but have lost nine of their last 10 matches and are the only Big Ten school that has not held a national ranking for at least one week this season. \nIU holds the series lead at 49-26-1, but Purdue has dominated as of late, winning seven of the last eight, including a 5-2 victory last year.