Aug. 30, 2002
The Illinois men's tennis team has a hard act to follow, after having finished fourth in the nation last May. Coach Craig Tiley apparently won't have to worry about his players resting on their laurels, because they wasted no time after the team's elimination in the NCAA Elite Eight before embarking on summer itineraries full of competition.
The quartet of Illini juniors competed in venues all over the country and produced several highlights. Phil Stolt qualified and reached the second round of the Pittsburgh Futures. Brian Wilson teamed with Nick Rainey of Southern California to win doubles titles at Futures events at Fresno, Auburn and Berkeley, all in California, and Wilson also reached the singles quarterfinals at Fresno. Amer Delic and Michael Calkins, who finished fourth in the nation in doubles last spring, reached the semifinal rounds of several Futures tournaments, and Delic advanced all the way to the singles final in the competition at Kenosha, Wis.
Sophomore Chris Martin also had a productive summer. While on his travels, Martin made the finals of the USTA Amateur Championships, which earned him a wild card entry into the main qualifying bracket of the ITA All-American Tournament,which takes place at Chattanooga, Tenn., in early October. Martin won the singles title at the ITA summer circuit event at Ohio State in mid-July, then followed it up with an appearance in the singles final at the next ITA tournament at Indiana University. In addition, Martin defeated former Illini Mike Kosta in the qualifying round of the Futures at Godfrey, Ill., and beat former Duke All-American Ramsey Smith on his way to the second round of that tournament's main draw.
Not to be outdone, a pair of incoming freshmen performed extremely well as they prepared for college-level competition. Ryler DeHeart of Tampa, Fla., the USTA Florida Player of the Year and winner of the Florida State Closed Tournament, had a spectacular summer. He played No. 1 singles on the USTA Junior Davis Cup team that reached the finals of its event and took third place in singles and progressed to the finals in doubles at the USTA Clay Court Championships. In addition, he placed sixth at the USTA Super National Championships at Kalamazoo, Mich. DeHeart, who also picked up a pair of sportsmanship awards at major tournaments during the summer, will compete starting this weekend in a qualifying event for the U.S. Open in New York. Fellow freshman Pramod Dabir earned his first ATP point when he advanced to the second round of the Berkeley, Calif. Futures event in June and placed sixth at the Clay Court Championships in Louisville.
The Fighting Illini begin their fall competition Sept. 20-22 when they travel to the Napa Valley Invitational in Northern California.
