University of Illinois
USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships
It's Official! Illinois Takes National Championship!
February 23, 2003 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 23, 2003
Illinois Head Coach Craig Tiley may have been more prophetic than he intended yesterday when he predicted today's national championship tennis match would be a close one. The second-ranked Fighting Illini made history this afternoon in Louisville, Ky., when they defeated No. 6 Florida, 4-2, to earn Illinois' first-ever national team tennis title. Illinois is the first team other than Stanford or UCLA to win the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Indoor title since California in 1989, and the first school from outside of the state of California to win the title since Southern Methodist did it in 1983.
 Illinois' 2003 National Indoor Tennis Champions  |
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UI junior Brian Wilson, ranked No. 20 in the country, won the match-clinching victory at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, over the Gators' 29th-ranked Janne Holmia, despite the fact that Holmia had two match-point situations.
"I was down, 5-2, in the third set," Wilson recalled, "but I just tried to remain calm. I tried to stick to the game plan that Craig and I set up, and I hoped for the best. Holmia has a great backhand, so I kept going after his forehand, and he finally broke. It was a tough match. My performance really didn't go down during the second set; he was just playing incredibly well."
The Illini uncharacteristically dug themselves a hole when Florida's Hamid Mirzadeh and Chris McDonald beat second-ranked Amer Delic and Michael Calkins, 8-6, in the No. 1 doubles match, avenging the Gators' 9-8 (5) loss to that duo at Illinois three weeks ago. Florida took the doubles point when its 13th-ranked tandem of Matt Behrmann and Troy Hahn got past Phil Stolt and Ryler DeHeart, 9-8 (4), in the No. 3 match. Wilson and Rajeev Ram led in the No. 2 match over Olivier Levant and Eleazar Magallan, but the match was aborted when the Gators got on the board.
"We didn't play our best in doubles, and I thought Florida played extremely well," said Tiley. "They carried it on into doubles play as well."
 Freshman Rajeev Ram received the United States Tennis Association Sportsmanship Award Sunday at the USTA/ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Kentucky at the Louisville Tennis Club. |
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Ram gave the Illini a shot in the arm when his 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles over Hahn tied the match at 1-1. Calkins, as it turned out, put Illinois ahead to stay with his 7-5, 6-4 decision over Behrmann at No. 5, and Delic put the Orange and Blue in position for the knockout blow with his 7-6 (4), 6-3 triumph in the No. 1 match over Mirzadeh. Stolt led Levant, 4-3, in the third set of what would have been the deciding match, had Wilson faltered, but that contest was abandoned.
"There's sort of a sense of relief for our team," said Tiley. "A point here, a point there, and we would have lost the match.
"Winning a national championship has been one of our main goals since I've been at Illinois. We've been fortunate to have had very good players, and these guys have worked extremely hard for this. Now we're the team to beat. We're undefeated, and teams would certainly love to beat us. Miami comes in next week, and then the outdoor season will start. We still have some very tough matches ahead, and we've got a lot of improvement to make if we have any intention of winning the NCAA Tournament in May."
No. 2 Illinois 4, No. 6 Florida 2
SINGLES 1. No. 2 Amer Delic (ILL) def. Hamid Mirzadeh (FLA) 7-6 (4), 6-3 2. No. 20 Brian Wilson (ILL) def. No. 29 Janne Holmia (FLA) 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 * 3. Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. Troy Hahn (FLA) 6-2, 6-3 4. No. 6 Phil Stolt (ILL) vs. No. 68 Olivier Levant (FLA) DNF 5. No. 42 Michael Calkins (ILL) def. No. 117 Matt Behrmann (FLA) 7-5, 6-4 6. No. 78 Eleazar Magallan (FLA) def. No. 84 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) 6-4, 7-5DOUBLES 1. Chris McDonald/Hamid Mirzadeh (FLA) def. No. 2 Michael Calkins/Amer Delic (ILL) 8-6 2. Brian Wilson/Rajeev Ram (ILL) vs. No. 37 Olivier Levant/Eleazar Magallan DNF 3. No. 13 Matt Behrmann/Troy Hahn (FLA) def. Phil Stolt/Ryler DeHeart (ILL) 9-8 (4)
