Oct. 21, 2004

Freshmen Brandon Davis and Andrew Eklov represented the University of Illinois men's tennis team at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. today. However, both fell short in their bid to earn a spot in the singles main draw competition that begins on Saturday.

"For Brandon and Andrew it was a new experience, which they may not have been accustomed to," said associate head coach Brad Dancer. "This can be a good barometer for them to look back on. Whether it's in a couple of weeks or longer we can look back and say how far we have come."

Despite a hard fought battle, Eklov fell short to Brian Compton of Michigan State 7-6, 7-6. Even with the loss, Eklov has still won four of his last six matches. Davis faced an up hill battle to begin by drawing Josef Fischer of host Michigan. Davis fell to 3-2 on the season after the 6-4, 6-1 loss to Fischer.

In spite of the losses both Davis and Eklov will be competing in the doubles main draw competition starting tomorrow. Davis will pair with Pramod Dabir and Eklov will pair with fellow freshman Monte Tucker. Two other duos will also be competing. The top seeded pair of GD Jones and Ryler DeHeart (ranked 17th nationally) and the senior duo of Chris Martin and Evan Zeder will round out the tandems for the Orange and Blue.

Qualifying Round of 64

Josef Fischer (MICH) def. Brandon Davis (ILL)       6-4, 6-1
Brian Compton (MSU) def. Andrew Eklov (ILL)         7-6, 7-6