Horve and Illini tennis players in the mix for Neitzel Family Open title

Lucas Horve chases down a ball to his backhand
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
Lucas Horve lines up a backhand shot under pressure during second set action against Benjamin George. Horve, a central Illinois native from Forsyth, defeated George 6-4, 6-1 at today's second-round qualifier at Atkins Tennis Center. The former Illinois standout moves to the main draw to face Noah Schachter, who has enjoyed a career-high ATP ranking of 727.

CHAMPAIGN - Sixteen matches are scheduled for the first-round main draw at the Neitzel Family Open. Seven current and former Illini tennis players are set to compete in singles play on Wednesday.

Kenta Miyoshi will kick the day off for the Illinois Family at 10 am, facing James Tracy. Ranked 898 by the ATP, Miyoshi looks to improve on his professional record of 31-22.

Senior Karlis Ozolins from Latvia will be heading to the baseline with his blazing flat serves on the same court, looking to upset fourth-seed Andre Ilagan at around 11:30 am. Meanwhile, on Court N5 around the same time, Gabrielius Guzauskas, who will also suit up for the Illini for one more season, will be squaring off with third-seeded Cannon Kingsley.

One of the four 1 pm bouts features two former Illini, Alex Petrov and Zeke Clark. The pair have met twice on the pro circuit with the elder Clark owning the series, 2-0.

Two more current Illinois tennis players, Lucas Horve and William Mroz, are scheduled to play at around 2:30 pm. Unranked Mroz, who advanced through the qualifiers, will face ATP veteran Dan Martin in their first career meeting. Martin, a 25-year-old Canadian, has achieved 61 wins against 56 losses in his eight-year journey as a professional player.

A recent University of Illinois graduate, Horve, who is unranked, will face Noah Schachter, with a 7-9 record this season.

Below is Wednesday's order of play at Atkins Tennis Center. Admission and parking are free for the public at the outdoor event.



Live scores and streams for Wednesday’s singles matches can be found HERE, while the full singles and doubles draws are available HERE.



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Neitzel Family Open second-round singles match schedule

CHAMPAIGN - Champaign-Urbana tennis players and fans can watch professional tennis for free this week. The Neitzel Family Open second-round qualifying matches start today at Atkins Tennis Center at 10 am, featuring athletes from around the world and two current University of Illinois players in the International Tennis Federation World Tour-sanctioned event.

Lucas Horve advanced to today's competition after defeating Australian Corey Gaal 7-5, 6-4 in the first round. A wildcard entry, Horve faces Canadian Ben George on court 1.

Also advancing from the Illinois tennis team, Tyler Bower will be on the court late this morning, facing teammate Gabrielius Guzauskas. Bower moved into the second round after Oliver Okonkwo retired in the second set of their first-round match yesterday.

Here is today's order of play for singles. Second-round doubles matches are scheduled to start at 2 pm. All matches are hosted on the east side of the campus tennis facility.

Starting at 10:00:
Benjamin Thomas George (CAN)[4] vs. Lucas Horve (USA)
Alexander Kotzen (USA)[2] vs. Cleeve Harper (CAN)[15]
Gavin Young (USA) vs. Osgar O'Hoisin (IRL)[9]
Connor Bruce (USA) vs. Nicolas Ian Kotzen (USA)[10]

Followed By:
Gabrielius Guzauskas (USA) vs. Tyler Bowers (USA)
Tyler Stice (USA)[7] vs. Adhithya Ganesan (USA)[13]
Kyle Kang (USA)[5] vs. Sam Thompson (AUS)
Aidan Kim (USA) vs. Ilgiz Valiev[14]


Photos this week


The St. Joseph-Ogden soccer team hosted Oakwood-Salt Fork in their home season opener on Monday. After a strong start, the Spartans fell after a strong second-half rally by the Comets, falling 5-1. Here are 33 photos from the game.