Twelfth-ranked Amer Delic won his first-round match in the NCAA Singles Championship Tournament this morning at College Station, Texas. Delic, who has played No. 1 singles almost exclusively for the Fighting Illini this season, outlasted LSU's Daniel Kiernan in the first set, but had little trouble in the second set, winning, 7-6 (6), 6-1, and advancing tomorrow's Round of 32.
No. 40 Brian Wilson, another UI sophomore, wasn't so fortunate this afternoon. He drew a tough opponent, 32nd-ranked Rodrigo Grilli of UCLA and fell, 6-3, 7-5, ending his season with a 31-9 record.
Delic opened the match down, 0-1, after incurring a penalty point as a result of expressing a little frustration, hitting a ball into the stands following Illinois' season-ending loss to eventual national champ Southern Cal in the team quarterfinals Sunday afternoon. He quickly evened the score, breaking Kiernan in the first set. Each player held service the rest of the way until Delic finally prevailed, 8-6, in the tiebreaker.
Delic also broke Kiernan's serve in the first and fifth games, to put things out of reach for his opponent right away. In the final game, it was a double fault for the LSU player than ended the match.
Delic, now 29-12 on the season, moves on to play Nebraska's Lance Mills, who got past Seth Rose of South Carolina, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. The match is expected to be played tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Wilson started out in a hole, as Grilli broke his serve in games 2 and 4 of the first set. He managed to hold serve the next two times, but Grilli served out to take a 6-3 win. Wilson was much more competitive in the second set. He ended shutouts in games 3 and 7, both with aces, but was unable to break Grilli. Grilli, however, finally broke Wilson's serve to take a 6-5 lead, and proceeded to serve successfully for the match.
"Brian did have a tough draw for this match," said Tiley, "but he is capable of beating Grilli. "He was very consistent for us the last couple of months of the season, but today he reverted back to some of his old habits and it cost him. Still, he had a great season for us, and he has an enormous amount of potential. We're excited about what next season holds for him and the team."
"I didn't play today the way I'm capable of playing," said Wilson. "I played a lot better the last month and during the team tournament, so it's frustrating. It was a tight second set, and I had some chances where I didn't capitalize. But overall, I think this is a season I can build on."
The loss broke a string of eight victories in a row for the San Marcos, Calif., native.
Delic and Michael Calkins will open their doubles tournament run tomorrow afternoon (time TBA). With their top-8 seeding and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) ranking, the pair earns All-America status. Delic also is awarded with All-America status as a singles player by virtue of his top-16 seeding. This the Jacksonville, Fla., product's second year as an All-American. Last season Delic and Graydon Oliver formed an All-America doubles duo--they reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Tournament.
