Nov. 28, 1999

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The main draw of the 1999 $50,000 USTA Challenger has been established, as four professionals filled the remaining spots with wins today at the Atkins Tennis Center. The Schedule for Monday will include one member of the Illinois team, junior Graydon Oliver (Weston, Fla./Westminster Academy), and former Illini All-American Oliver Freelove.

One name that will be absent from the main draw is that of Illini senior Jeff Laski (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North), who lost to American Alex Witt in a tough three-set match, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. However, Laski, paired with teammate Jamal Parker (Denville, NJ/Newark Academy), will be competing as wild card participants in the first round of doubles play, beginning Wednesday, Dec. 1.

In other qualifying action, Grant Stafford of South Africa, upset No. 1 seed Brian Macphie in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, to earn himself a bid to the main draw. Joining Stafford is American Tom Chicoine. Chicoine, the No. 2 seed, took three sets to defeat fellow-American and No. 8 seed James Blake, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Also advancing to the main draw is Austria's Wolfgang Schranz, who defeated American Jeff Salzenstein, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(3).

In doubles qualifying play, Germany's pair of Jan Boruszewski and Patrick Sommer defeated Illini Graydon Oliver and ex-Illini Oliver Freelove, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the finals of doubles qualifying. There they will take on the Canadian duo of former Illinois stand-out Jerry Turek and Frederic Niemeyer, who cruised past the duo of Belgium's Timothy Aerts and Germany's Markus Menzler, 6-2, 6-4. The finals for doubles qualifying begins Monday, Nov. 29, at approximately at 6 p.m.

The main draw of the USTA Challenger begins tomorrow at 1 p.m. First-round match-ups include Illinois' own Graydon Oliver as he takes on Frederic Niemeyer at approximately 4 p.m., as well as the Challenger's No. 1 seed, American Paul Goldstein, taking on the Netherlands' Rogier Wassen starting around 6 p.m.

The 1999 USTA Challenger is the largest professional event in the state of Illinois, attracting a host of the world's top 300 players, as they compete for over $50,000 in prize money. Matches begin at 1 p.m. and run through approximately 9 p.m. every day this week to Friday, with the semifinals of singles and doubles being held on Saturday, Dec. 4 and the finals on Sunday, Dec. 5. For ticket information, contact Jan Winters at the Atkins Tennis Center at (217) 244-6471.