Nov. 6, 2002
Coach Craig Tiley's prized junior class will test its strength against some of the top players in the nation for the next few days at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Omni Hotels National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in Farmer's Branch, Texas, just outside of Dallas.
The 32-draw singles and 16-draw doubles tournaments feature qualifiers from the ITA regional championships held across the country last month, as well as the winners of the ITA All-American Championships and at-large and wild card selections made by the ITA National Tournament Committee.
Illinois' Phil Stolt (ranked No. 44) and Brian Wilson (ranked No. 25) qualified by virtue of reaching the singles final at the Midwest Regional. Wilson elected not to play in the title match against Stolt, due to a minor hamstring injury that he sustained in his semifinal contest against teammate Michael Calkins. Sixth-ranked Amer Delic was an at-large choice; he did not appear in the regional due to a sore arm. Both Delic and Wilson are expected to be in good physical condition for this tournament. Illinois' three representatives in the field of 32 are the most it has ever had; the three also make up the largest contingent from any program in the country.
The Illini doubles team of Delic and Calkins, ranked No. 4 in the nation, won the All-American in Chattanooga in early October and earned the top seed in this weekend's competition.
"I'm very pleased with the strength of our contingent," said Tiley. "To have three among the top 32 players in the nation is exciting. Fortunately, Amer and Brian are doing better physically, but on the other hand, Phil has been sick early this week. We're hoping he can get stronger so he can compete.
"In the past, we have not fared as well as I would have liked, and we need to rectify that. We have players this year that can win this tournament. It's been a great fall for us so far, in fact, our best ever. We would like nothing better than to finish strong."
The lack of success to which Tiley was referring has been in singles play. Oliver Freelove is the only Illinois player to have won a singles match in this tournament; he advanced to the second round in 1998-99. In doubles, on the other hand, Jerry Turek and Brady Blain advanced to the quarterfinals in 1996-97, and Delic and Graydon Oliver matched that performance in 2000-01. Jamal Parker and Jeff Laski reached the semifinals in 1999-2000, and Laski and Gavin Sontag were tournament runners-up in 1998-99.
Third-seeded Delic will open Thursday at 11:30 a.m. against Robert Searle of Rice. At the same time, Wilson will face No. 11 David Martin of Stanford, the No. 6 seed. Then at 1 p.m., Stolt takes on top-seeded and 10th-ranked Daniel Klemetz of Middle Tennessee. Calkins and Delic will play their first doubles match at 3 p.m.; their opponents will be Zotan Csandi and Izak Van Der Merwe of Old Dominion.
Thursday's schedule calls for singles first-round action, followed by the Round of 16 and quarterfinal rounds of doubles. On Friday, the Rounds of 16 and quarterfinals will be contested, followed by the doubles semifinals. Saturday's docket shows singles semifinals and doubles finals, while Sunday, the final day of competition, will have singles finals only. All sessions include concurrent play in both the men's and women's tournaments.
Fans can follow Illinois players' progress in the tournament at www.fightingillini.com. Comprehensive coverage of the tournament can be found on the ITA website: www.itatennis.com.
