Jan. 19, 2007

Results |  Illinois vs. Pepperdine Photo Gallery 

URBANA, Ill. - The No.5 Illinois men's tennis team opened the season with an impressive 4-3 victory over defending NCAA champion No. 10 Pepperdine at the Atkins Tennis Center tonight. The Illini (1-0), playing in front of a packed house, received a huge lift from its junior class, as Kevin Anderson, Brandon Davis, Ruben Gonzales and Ryan Rowe came through in a strong way to lead the Orange and Blue to a season-opener victory against the Waves(0-1).

"Our junior class was huge for us today," head coach Brad Dancer said about the effort. "Pepperdine is a very talented team, and it was great to start the season with a victory over such a tough opponent. I was very impressed with our junior class, they stayed composed and level headed throughout their matches and came through in a big way for us. We still have a lot of work to do, but we can build on this win and only get better as the season progresses."

Fans were treated to a doubles clinic by the Illini, as the No. 1 doubles team of Anderson and Gonzales set the tone for the night with a win over Pepperdine's Omar Altmann and Richard Johnson, 8-4. The pair stormed out to a lead from the get-go, and never looked back.

In the same fashion, the No. 2 doubles team of Rowe and Davis proved to have the answer to every shot that the Waves' doubles tandem of Andre Begemann and Mahmoud Kamel gave them in their match. With the contest under the Illini's control for most of the match, the Illini posted an 8-6 victory to clinch the doubles point. At No. 3 doubles, senior GD Jones and sophomore Marc Spicijaric fell behind in their doubles match before rebounding to tie the affair at 7-7. With the doubles point already decided, the match went to a tiebreak, where the Pepperdine duo of Bassam Beidas and James Lemke closed out the slim victory, 8-6.

From there, Illinois continued to give fans a display of collegiate tennis' best shot making and athleticism. At No. 1 singles, 23rd-ranked Anderson pulled away in the second set of his match against No. 33-ranked Begemann, finally finding his grove to take the match 7-6(6), 6-3. At No. 2 singles, No. 11-ranked Rowe looked poised from the first serve, tallying unofficially a little over 10 aces on the day to defeat Johnson 7-5, 7-5. At No. 3 singles, Gonzales, who was the first to the finish line after cruising through his 6-1, 6-3 match against Beidas, was firing on all cylinders to turn in one of Illinois' top performances on the night.

The Waves, however, countered to capture the No. 4-6 singles, with No. 4 singles Lemke defeating Spicijaric (7-5, 5-7, 6-2), No. 5 singles Altmann downing Jones (1-6, 6-2, 6-1) and No. 6 singles Kamel besting Davis 6-4, 7-5.

The Illini improved to 75-20-1 in season dual match openers since 1905, and 2-0 under the tutelage of Dancer.

Illinois returns to action when they travel to Ball State on Friday, Jan. 26. The match starts at 7 p.m. local time, and 6 p.m. CST.

 

Tennis Match Results

Pepperdine vs Illinois

1/19/2007 at Urbana, Ill.

#5 Illinois 4, #10 Pepperdine 3

 

Singles competition

1. #23 Kevin Anderson (ILL) def. #33 Andre Begemann (PEPP) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3

2. #11 Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. Richard Johnson (PEPP) 7-5, 7-5

3. Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Bassam Beidas (PEPP) 6-1, 6-3

4. James Lemke (PEPP) def. #83 Marc Spicijaric (ILL) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2

5. Omar Altmann (PEPP) def. GD Jones (ILL) 1-6, 6-2, 6-1

6. Mahmoud Kamel (PEPP) def. Brandon Davis (ILL) 6-4, 7-5

 

Doubles competition

1. Kevin Anderson/Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Omar Altmann/Richard Johnson (PEPP) 8-4

2. Ryan Rowe/Brandon Davis (ILL) def. Andre Begemann/Mahmoud Kamel (PEPP) 8-6

3. Bassam Beidas/James Lemke (PEPP) def. Marc Spicijaric/GD Jones (ILL) 8-7 (8-6)

 

Match Notes:

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,2,5,6,1,4)