Defending NCAA Champs Begin Quest To Repeat
September 8, 2003 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 8, 2003
Members of the Illinois men's tennis team thought they had 10 of the 11 players from last year's squad back to defend their first NCAA title this season. Reserve Alex Hobson graduated, but UI Head Coach Craig Tiley has announced that Rajeev Ram has chosen not to return to school.
Ram, in one semester at Illinois, won almost every conceivable tennis honor possible. The Carmel, Ind., native, considered the No. 1 recruit in the nation a year ago, enrolled in school in mid-January (2003), and immediately moved into the starting lineup of what was then the second-ranked team in the country.
By the end of May, Ram had helped the Illini to a perfect 32-0 record in a season that saw them win their first NCAA team tennis title, their first national indoor championship and their seventh consecutive Big Ten crown. As an individual, he won Illinois' second NCAA doubles title (with Brian Wilson), earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-American (in both singles and doubles) honors. Ram ended the year as the No. 6 singles player in the nation.
"We had thought there was a 50-50 chance that Rajeev would return to help our team defend its national title this year," said Tiley. "We hoped he'd still be here with us, but he has elected to play as an amateur on the pro circuit at this point, and we wish him well. We will miss him, but we still have a very strong team."
The Fighting Illini will also be without the services of Wilson and classmate Amer Delic during the fall semester. While the rest of the team is attending classes and competing in individual tournaments between now and December, those two seniors will be traveling and playing as amateurs in professional tournaments. Delic, the defending NCAA singles champion, and Wilson, the 2003 NCAA doubles titlist (along with Ram), both have enough academic credits to be eligible to return to the University in the spring semester and compete in dual-match play.
"That was part of the big picture all along-for those two players to take the fall off from school," said Tiley. "They have been playing very well, and the will gain some excellent experience this fall against some top-level players. We'll miss them, but this will give everyone who is with us even more opportunities for competition and instruction."
Meanwhile, Tiley and Associate Head Coach Bruce Berque get down to business with the squad this weekend. The NCAA limits the number of days on which teams can practice each academic year, and though the eight remaining players have been working out on their own, the Illini don't have their first official workout until Friday when they open competition at the Audi Napa Valley Tennis Classic, presented by Nike and hosted by the University of California.
"We are starting two weeks earlier than normal, so we can't use practice days ahead of this event," said Tiley. "It's sort of a preliminary tournament, but there should be some great competition there. Georgia, California and Texas A&M are three of the best teams in the country. Our guys have been working hard all summer, and I think they will compete well. But our main objective this weekend (Sept. 12-14 at Meadowood in Napa Valley) is to identify specific areas of their games that our players need to improve.
"We are anxious to get back to work," Tiley continued. "As wonderful as it was to win the championships last spring, we need to put that season behind us and move on. Our players have goals to improve so that we can remain the best team in the country."
