Nov. 9, 2002
Illinois has an NCAA doubles crown to its credit. Graydon Oliver and Cary Franklin saw to that in May of 2000. The Fighting Illini are on the brink of having a national singles champion as well. That's if sixth-ranked and third-seeded Amer Delic can do again what he did four weeks ago-beat Baylor's Benedikt Dorsch.
Delic (11-2 on the season) earned his spot in tomorrow afternoon's title match with an impressive 7-6 (2), 7-5 victory today over No. 13 Todd Widom of Miami (Fla.) in the semifinal of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Intercollegiate Indoor Championship tournament in Farmer's Branch, Texas, just outside of Dallas. Delic reached the final at the ITA's first of three national tournaments of the year (National Indoors is the second, and the third is the NCAA Tournament in May), the All-American Championships after having beaten Dorsch, 6-4, 6-4, in a semifinal tilt.
"Amer is playing excellent tennis this fall," said Illinois Head Coach Craig Tiley. "When he played Dorsch at the All-American, I thought he played one of his best matches of the year. Tomorrow will be a very touch match for Amer, but if he serves well, he should be in good shape. Having made the finals of both national tournaments this fall shows that Amer is probably the most consistent player in the nation right now."
Delic also combined with Michael Calkins this afternoon to win the consolation championship of the doubles tournament at National Indoors. The fourth-ranked Illini duo outlasted Harvard's David Lingman and Mark Ridell, 8-6.
"I'm very happy for Michael and Amer," said Tiley. "For them to come back after such a disappointing first match and then run the table speaks to their character and the way they handle adversity. A lot of players would have lost some of their competitive drive after being upset in the first round of the main draw. But they hung in there and kept competing."
Brian Wilson did not fare so well. He lost to Vanderbilt's Chad Harris, ranked No. 38, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the singles consolation semifinal.
"I thought Brian took a step backward today in terms of his attitude," said Tiley. "He let a few of Harris' good shots affect him negatively. Good players are going to make good shots against you, but you need to maintain your composure and not become frustrated."
Delic is the first Fighting Illini player ever to reach the indoor national singles final, which has been contested since 1978, however, Jeff Laski and Gavin Sontag reached the 1999 doubles final.
Illinois' results can be followed on the internet at www.fightingillini.com, and full tournament scores and brackets are available at www.itatennis.com.
