Oct. 5, 2007

2007 Polo Ralph Lauren/ITA All-American Championshps Official Web Site

TULSA, Okla. - Seniors Ryan Rowe and Brandon Davis used a late-match surge to advance into the second round of the Polo Ralph Lauren/ITA All-American Championships in the main doubles draw at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa. In singles, despite a hard-fought effort from ninth-ranked Rowe, the senior was unable to overcome a feisty Denes Lukacs of Baylor to fall in the opening round of singles.

"Brandon and Ryan did a great job of staying tough in their match," associate head coach George Husack said about the senior's performance. "It was a back-and-forth match, with our guys going up early before the pair from Wake Forest broke back. It was great to see the guys respond in the tiebreak and come out strong and end the match by winning the last four straight points."

Rowe and Davis owned an early 3-0 and 4-1 lead at one point in the match, but it was the No. 16-ranked pair of Mariusz Adamski and Cory Parr of Wake Forest who were able to break back and level the contest at 7-all. With both teams holding strong in the tiebreak, it was the Demon Deacon tandem that blinked first, dropping four straight points to give Illinois the 9-8(4) victory.

Rowe and Davis (ILL) now will face TCU's No. 22-ranked Kriegler Bring and Cosmin Cotet in the second round at 1:30 p.m. CT today at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Should they advance, they will likely face the No. 1-ranked tandem of Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey of Virginia in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

In singles, Rowe faced a high-caliber opponent in No. 78 Lukacs, who had a strong day in the match to hand Rowe the 7-6(6), 6-4 setback.

"Rowe lost a tough first round match to Denes Lukacs of Baylor," Husack said. "Rowe had a few chances to break serve at 5-5, but Lukacs came up with a couple of big serves to negate the opportunity. He also had a set point at 6-5, but Lukacs prevailed and captured the tiebreak 8-6. In the second, the two players held serve until 4-4 when Rowe was broken, eventually leading to the 6-4 set and match victory."

In the consolation bracket, Rowe was tested again before having to retire in the third set trailing 1-3. Despite winning the first set 6-4 against Robbye Poole of Mississippi, the No. 18-ranked Poole battled back to send it to a third with a 6-3 second-set win.

For continued coverage of the Illini at the 2007 Polo Ralph Lauren/ITA All-American Championships, visit fightingillini.com, or the official tournament web site at itatennis.com by clicking on the tournament logo for live scoring and results or by clicking HERE.