March 23, 2004

The No. 1-ranked Illinois men's tennis team cleared another hurdle this evening when it won convincingly over ninth-ranked Florida at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville before a crowd of 522 fans. The triumph boosted Illinois' season record to 16-0 and its record dual-match winning streak to 48 matches. It also snapped the Gators' 23-match home winning streak that began nearly two years ago (last home loss was March 31, 2002). Florida falls to 10-4 on the season.

Throughout doubles play it was a dogfight. Illini Chris Martin and Michael Calkins, ranked No. 15 (up today from No. 33), finished first with an 8-5 win at No. 2 over the Gators' Vladimir Obradovic and Trey Johnson. Florida's Stefan Tell and Martin Stiegwardt were winners at No. 3 over Pramod Dabir and Ryler DeHeart, setting up a decisive finish for the No. 1 match. The Fighting Illini scored the important doubles point, but not before second-ranked Brian Wilson and Phil Stolt needed a tie-breaker to slip past Hamid Mirzadeh and Chris Brandi, 9-8 (6). In that match, the UI duo jumped out to a 5-0 lead before falling behind, 6-5.

"The doubles competition was very close," UI Coach Craig Tiley confirmed. "Winning that tiebreaker at No. 1 gave us a huge momentum shift."

The Illini capitalized on that turn of events, winning the next five decisions in a row. First off the court for Illinois was DeHeart, who defeated Tell in the No. 3 match, 6-1, 6-4. The Illini sophomore has won 13 of his last 14 (he lost Saturday at Florida State). The score moved to 3-0 when Calkins became Illinois' first 20-match winner this season by finishing off Ryan Sherry, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4. Dabir provided the clincher, a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 6 over UF's Stiegwart. Wilson and Martin, ranked No. 3 and No. 48, playing in the No. 1 and No. 5 matches, respectively, provided points for good measure. Wilson topped the No. 17 Mirzadeh, 6-2, 7-6 (4), and Martin split the first two sets with Brandi, winning the first, 6-2, but dropping the second, 3-6. He was ahead in the 10-point tiebreaker, 7-4, when the match was stopped. Brandi was called for displaying unsportsmanlike conduct and had to forfeit the match. It was Martin's 10th win in a row. The Gators averted the shutout when Obradovic slipped past Stolt at No. 2, 7-6 (1), 6-4.

"Overall, we played better than we did at Florida State on Saturday," said Tiley. "We came out and won all of the first sets except at No. 2. It was great to see us rebound after that average performance in Tallahassee."

There was plenty of Orange and Blue in the stands. Most of it was worn by Florida fans, but there was a sizeable cotingent of people favoring the darker shade of blue (the Illini wear navy; the Gators' blue is royal). A number of Illinois fans traveled from Tampa, Orlando and other points in the Sunshine state to watch the match.

"It was fantastic to have such strong support on the road this evening," said Tiley. "The Illini volleyball and women's tennis teams were here to cheer us on, and all of us, the coaches and players, really appreciated them coming."

Illinois wraps up its spring break tour of Florida when it journeys to Coral Gables for a Friday contest against No. 37 Miami.

TONIGHT'S RESULTS:

No. 1 Illinois 6 at No. 9 Florida 1
Attendance: 522

Doubles:
1. #2 Brian Wilson/Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Hamid Mirzadeh/Chris Brandi (FLA)              9-8 (6)
2. #15 Michael Calkins/Chris Martin (ILL) def. Vladimir Obradovic/Trey Johnson (FLA)    8-5
3. Stefan Tell/Martin Stiegwardt (FLA) def. Pramod Dabir/Ryler DeHeart (ILL)            8-4

Singles:
1. #3 Brian Wilson (ILL) def. #17 Hamid Mirzadeh (FLA)    6-2, 7-6 (4)
2. Vladimir Obradovic (FLA) def. #29 Phil Stolt (ILL)     7-6 (1), 6-4
3. Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. Stefan Tell (FLA)             6-1, 6-4
4. Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Ryan Sherry (FLA)           6-2, 6-1
5. #48 Chris Martin (ILL) def. Chris Brandi (FLA)         6-2, 3-6, (10-4)
6. GD Jones (ILL) def. Martin Stiegwardt (FLA)            6-3, 6-4