May 21, 2003
Just hours after Illinois was crowned the 2003 NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament champ, the Illini and the Vanderbilt Commodores were going at it again. The NCAA Singles Tournament got underway today in Athens, Ga., and four of the 64 contestants are members of the national champion Fighing Illini. Two of those Illinois players drew opponents from Vanderbilt, and the schools split those two contests. UI singles participants also defeated foes from Mississippi and from Tennessee.
Rain in the Athens area today drove the competitors inside and stretched out the schedule, but when it was finally over, three of the four Illini who competed today have advanced to the Round of 32.
The most exciting of the matches involving Illinois players was what turned out to be a heavyweight fight between freshman Rajeev Ram (ranked No. 22) and Vanderbilt's 16th-ranked Chad Harris. The two battled it out for more than three hours (nearly four hours, counting the delay during which the match was moved from outdoors to indoors because of the weather). When it was all over, Ram had survived three match points against him and survived, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5. He had a little assistance in the final game, as Harris double-faulted and was given a point penalty for persisting in disputing line calls. But he'll accept the win, just the same.
"This was some of the best tennis I have played in awhile," said Ram. It was a shame that the point penalty contributed to the outcome at the end, because both of us were playing very well. It's a heckuva confidence builder for me."
UI Head Coach Craig Tiley agreed.
"This could very well have been a final, as far as the quality is concerned. It was a phenomenal match."
Ram's victory capped off a good day for the Fighting Illini. Earlier in the afternoon, No. 12 Brian Wilson's grit and endurance helped produce a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win over Tennessee's 18th-ranked Simon Rea, and No. 3 Amer Delic won a 7-6 (5), 6-4 decision over Mississippi's 23rd-ranked Catalin Gard. Phil Stolt, who is ranked No. 20, drew the short straw, or rather, the toughest opponent. His season is over after he lost a 7-5, 6-2 contest to Vanderbilt's Bobby Reynolds, the top-ranked player in the nation, the tournament's No. 1 seed and MVP.
"Our guys put forth unbelievable effort today," said Tiley. "With all of the physical and emotional stress they endured while playing for and winning the national team championship during the last four days...for them to compete this hard, despite having various nagging injuries, is nothing short of amazing. Typically, players from the two final teams in the tournament have not advanced very far in the individual tournaments, because of all of those factors."
The NCAA Singles Tournament will continue tomorrow in the Round of 32 and the doubles tourney will begin with its 32 duos. Wilson is scheduled to meet up with Oscar Chow of Columbia at 10:30 a.m.; Delic will take on Marcus Bernston of Boise State at 11 a.m.; and Ram will compete with Miami's Todd Widom at Noon. In doubles, Delic and Michael Calkins, ranked No. 11, will play against Tommy Garrison and Chris Mitchell of Oklahoma at 4:30, and Wilson and Ram will face Arizona State's Chris Stewart and Chris Stewart at 5 p.m.
Rain is in the forecast for the Athens area again tomorow, so the projected start times might not hold.
Follow the progress of the tournament on www.georgiadogs.com; Illinois results will be available at www.fightingillini.com.
