University of Illinois
IOWA
No. 2 Fighting Illini Roll in Big Ten Opener
February 14, 2003 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 14, 2003
Illinois' No. 2 men's tennis team began its Big Ten-title defense with a 7-0 thrashing of the visiting Iowa Hawkeyes. The victory was the Illini's 55th straight regular-season Big Ten win and its third shutout of the young season. The Orange and Blue were without junior Brian Wilson who was nursing a sore shoulder. Classmate Amer Delic sat out singles competition to rest a sore wrist.
"I thought the team came out and played extremely well," Head Coach Craig Tiley said. "I was worried that we may overlook an opponent that was not as strong as us, but we came out and took care of business in doubles and singles play. A lot of guys got a chance to play and performed well."
Junior Michael Calkins, ranked 42nd nationally, filled in at No. 1, defeating 65th-ranked Stuart Waters, 6-4, 6-3. It was Calkins' first ever match at the No. 1 position.
"I was nervous at first because I have never played at the number one position," Calkins said. "But I settled down and really continued to improve and play well. My serve has been getting stronger and stronger and I really feel good about my game right now."
The Illini's depth affords Tiley the luxury of moving his singles lineup around without fear of a decline in talent.
"The first five guys have been rotating and all getting a chance to play number one," Tliey said. "There are so many good players on the team, we can rotate line-ups and still be strong at every draw."
Illinois won every singles match in straight-sets. At No. 2, freshman Rajeev Ram continued his strong play, beating Hunter Skogman, 6-0, 6-2. Junior Phil Stolt, No. 6 nationally, breezed past the Hawkeye's Pete Rose, 6-1, 6-0.
UI freshman Ryler DeHeart won 6-4, 6-4 over Parker Ross at No. 4, while sophomore Chris Martin was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Johan Bergenas. Pramod Dabir was a 6-0, 6-3 victor at No. 6 over Chaitu Malenpati.
The match was the Illini's final tune-up for next weekend's National Indoor tournament at the University of Kentucky. The Illini, the tournament's second seed, will face 15th-seeded Harvard in opening-round action. Illinois was the runner-up at last year's tournament.
"This is one of the biggest tournaments of the year and we are very excited about playing," Tiley said. "I feel that we are playing very well right now but we are going to have to come out and play our best to get past our first round opponent (Harvard) and on to the later rounds. This is a good chance for us to see where we are and need to be, getting a chance to play against the best in the country."
Calkins added, "We are all very excited. It's our chance to show the country we are the team to beat."
The tournament begins Feb. 20 in Lexington. For bracket information, go to www.itatennis.com.
Today's Illinois Results:DOUBLES: 1. No. 2 Amer Delic/Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Stuart Walters/Hunter Skogman (Iowa) 8-4 2. Phil Stolt/Chris Martin (ILL) def. Tres Jones/Johan Bergenas (Iowa) 8-3 3. Rajeev Ram/Evan Zeder (ILL) def. Pete Rose/Parker Ross (Iowa) 8-5
SINGLES: 1. No. 42 Michael Calkins (ILL) def. No. 65 Stuart Walters (Iowa) 6-4, 6-3 2. Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. Hunter Skogman (Iowa) 6-0, 6-2 3. No. 6 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Pete Rose (Iowa) 6-1, 6-4 4. No. 84 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. Parker Ross (Iowa) 6-4, 6-4 5. Chris Martin (ILL) def. John Bergenas (Iowa) 6-1, 6-1 6. Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. Chaitu Malempati (Iowa) 6-0, 6-3
