July 31, 2006

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Recent graduate Ryler DeHeart came out of the starting blocks of his professional career strong, winning his first titles in both singles and doubles at the Lewis and Clark Community College Futures Tennis Tournament in Godfrey, Ill., on July 30. DeHeart took out two top seeds in singles en route to the title, while in doubles he teamed with South African Stephen Mitchell to capture the crown.

"I am very proud of Ryler," head coach Brad Dancer said. "For Ryler to come out strong in his first professional tour events is big for him. This is a great start to what will be a great professional career."

In singles, DeHeart upended top-seeded Xin-Yuan Yu of China in the opening round, 7-5, 6-3, before meeting current Illinois junior Ruben Gonzales in the Round of 16. After defeating his former teammate, DeHeart continued on his tear through the brackets, defeating Michael Shabaz (USA) in the quarters, setting up his match with the highest seed remaining in No. 4-seeded Shannon Nettle of Australia. Without a hiccup the entire match, DeHeart cruised to a 6-4, 6-2, victory to earn himself a ticket in his first pro-circuit final. Meeting Todd Paul (USA) - who took out No. 7-seeded Jonathan Chu (USA) to earn his spot opposite DeHeart - DeHeart was poised to fight for the crown. The former Illini standout dropped the first set 6-7(2), before kicking it into the next gear, surrendering only three games the rest of the way to win 6-2, 6-1 in the final two sets.

With a singles title already in hand, DeHeart went to work with teammate Mitchell in the doubles final. DeHeart/Mitchell had just come off an upset victory over top-seeded Carsten Ball and Adam Feeney of Australia in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-5, and were looking for that same performance when they met fellow Americans and unseeded Joey Atas and Ryan Recht. DeHeart and Mitchell wasted no time in the first final of their careers, breaking Atas/Recht in the first set en route to a 6-3 win, before cruising to a 6-1 victory in the second set. Both titles were firsts for the 2006 Illinois standout.

In other action, 2003 Illini Amer Delic made his way into the finals of the Fifth Third Bank Tennis Classic in Lexington, Ky., falling to No. 1 seeded Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea in the finals, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. Delic, who defeated current junior Kevin Anderson in the Round of 16 and entered the event as the No. 5 seed, could not capitalize after taking an early one-set lead over Lee.

In doubles action in Lexington, the team of Anderson and current sophomore Marc Spicijaric could not keep their run going after defeating Delic and Troy Hahn (USA) in the quarters. The Illini doubles tandem fell in the semis to John Isner and Colin Purcell of the United States, 4-6, 7-6(1), 10-1.