Feb. 3, 2006

DURHAM, N.C. - The third ranked University of Illinois men's tennis team earned a hard fought 6-1 victory over perennial ACC powerhouse No. 9 Duke at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center in Durham, N.C., Friday night. With the win, the Illini improve to 2-2 in matches at Duke and 8-4 in the all-time series. The Illini improve to 3-0 on the season while the Blue Devils drop to 1-1.

"Duke really had a fantastic crowd and made it tough for us to get a win on the road," Coach Dancer said. "It was a great environment for college tennis and I am really proud of the way our guys competed tonight."

Again, the Illini got off to a good start earning the doubles point for the third straight time. Ryler DeHeart (Tampa, Fla.) and Ruben Gonzales (Terre Haute, Ind.) improved to 3-0 this season in dual matches with their 8-2 victory over Ludovic Walter and Joey Atlas to start the night on the second court.

The Fighting Illini clinched the doubles point at the No. 1 position behind the solid play of sophomores Kevin Anderson (Johannesburg, South Africa,) and Ryan Rowe (Moline, Ill.). The "twin towers" continued to cruise improving to 3-0 in dual matches with their 8-4 defeat of Jonathan Stokke and Stephen Amritraj.

"They (Anderson/Rowe) went down a break on a tough call to lose," Dancer said. "But they bounced back and I'm really proud of their resiliency. If they can keep that up they're going to be unstoppable."

In singles, No. 7 DeHeart cruised to his 10th consecutive win of the season over Ohio State transfer Atlas, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 for the Illini's second point.

Following DeHeart was No. 99 Rowe who dismantled Christopher Brown on the fourth court, 6-3, 6-1, to earn his seventh consecutive win of the year.

The Illini sealed the match behind the strong play of senior Pramod Dabir (Saratoga, Calif.). Dabir provided the clincher at No. 6 taking control in the third set to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 over Kiril Dimitrov.

Anderson, who came into his match ranked tied for 37th, beat a higher ranked foe for the second consecutive match. Anderson improved to 9-1 on the season with his 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 third set tiebreaker victory over two-time All-ACC Stokke at No. 2 singles.

The number one court belonged to junior GD Jones (Auckland, New Zealand) who faced a tough test in ninth-ranked and two-time All-Amercian Walter. Jones was all business, dispatching the ITA National Indoor Championship runner-up 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 to conclude the evening.

The Orange and Blue return to Atkins Tennis Center to begin a three match homestand Tuesday night with a showdown against Notre Dame at 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
#3 Illinois 6, at #9 Duke 1
Singles Competition
1.	GD Jones (ILL) def. #9 Ludovic Walter (DUKE), 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4
2.	#T-37 Kevin Anderson (ILL) def. #20 Jonathan Stokke (DUKE); 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5)
3.	#7 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) def. Joey Atlas (DUKE); 6-2, 6-0
4.	Peter Rodrigues (DUKE) def. #59 Ruben Gonzales (ILL); 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
5.	#99 Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. Christopher Brown (DUKE); 6-3, 6-1
6.	Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. Kiril Dimitrov (DUKE); 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 5, 6, 2, 4, 1
Doubles Competition
1.	Anderson/Rowe (ILL) def.
Stokke/Armitraj (DUKE); 8-4
2.	DeHeart/Gonzales (ILL) def.
 Walter/Atlas (DUKE); 8-2
3.	Rodriques/Samuelson (DUKE) def.
Jones/Spicijaric (ILL); 8-4
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3