The No. 49 Northwestern Wildcats men’s tennis team closed out their non-conference schedule with a commanding 7-0 sweep over the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) on Friday, extending their record to 11-3 heading into Big Ten play. This victory marked Northwestern’s final tune-up before beginning conference competition and continued the Wildcats’ best start to a season since 2015.
The Wildcats set the tone early by securing the doubles point. Junior Ethan Schiffman paired with junior Cyrus Mahjoob — ranked No. 70 nationally — to defeat Artem Alekseychuk and Simon Knezevic 6-2 at the top spot. Seconds later, the No. 73 duo of Greyson Casey and Carter Pate clinched the doubles win with an identical 6-2 result.
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- At No. 1 singles, Carter Pate overwhelmed Alekseychuk 6-0, 6-1 to give NU its second point of the match.
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- Freshman Cooper Han continued his strong season with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over UIC’s Youssef Hamed at No. 6 singles.
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- Cyrus Mahjoob sealed the sweep with a straight-sets 6-4, 6-2 win against Eldin Nokic.
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- Greyson Casey rallied from an early deficit at No. 3 singles to win 6-3, 6-3, while senior Chad Miller earned a three-set victory (6-1, 3-6, 10-4) at No. 5.
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- The final point came from a thrilling long battle at No. 4 singles, where Schiffman prevailed 7-6(2), 7-6(2) in a tightly contested match. :
With the sweep complete, Northwestern now turns its focus to Big Ten play, beginning with a home match against Washington on March 6. The Wildcats hope to carry their momentum from a strong start into the tougher competition ahead.