Nov. 17, 2007

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Donald Young dazzled a massive crowd at the Atkins Tennis Center on Friday night, dispatching Ilia Bozoljac 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3 to advance to the Finals of the JSM Challenger in Urbana, Illinois. Young will be attempting to win his second Challenger Final, and the first professional tournament he's ever played in his home state.

"Oh, definitely it would be great to win here, in Illinois," Young said. "Especially since I've been in the Finals a couple times in the last few weeks. But we'll just go out there and see how it goes."

The match started poorly for Young, with the Serbian Bozoljac dominating both his service games, and taking advantage of Young's second serves to go up two breaks. Young says it was a matter of finding some timing on the court against a player with Bozoljac's power.

"I just had to keep a couple in play, and that was the key thing, especially early. He's got a great serve on the deuce court, which was effective to my backhand. But then he started missing a couple, and giving me a chance. He's a great player. He hits so hard, which makes it tough to play against."

Young will have to play against a near carbon copy of himself tomorrow, as he'll play another young American lefty in Jesse Levine. The Floridian knocked off the hard serving John Isner, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the day's first semifinal, using amazing accuracy off the ground, and surprisingly effective return game against the 6'9" former Georgia Bulldog.

"It's not the first time I've played the jolly green giant," Levine said of his former college rival. "He has an unbelievable serve. But mentally, I came prepared to deal with it today. I felt I needed to get every return and make him beat me from the baseline. And then I played really solid. There weren't too many winners, but I made him work."

Levine has now won twelve straight matches. He qualified and won last week's Challenger in Nashville, and then has four straight wins here.

Rajeev Ram's run at the JSM Challenger is over. Attempting to reach his fifth consecutive Doubles Final, he and partner Bobby Reynolds were upset by Harel Levy and Sam Warburg, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 11-9. Ram and Reynolds had a 7-3 lead in the match tiebreak, but some key returns from the 4th seeded Levy and Warburg got them even, and eventually past the top seeds.

"We were awful close today," Ram said. "We didn't lose serve the entire match, but still managed to lose the match. That's kind of unusual, but that's how it goes some times in doubles. We played alright, but it just didn't go our way today."

Ryler DeHeart is also out, meaning there will be no Illini presence in Saturday's Final. He and partner Izak van der Merwe fell in straight sets to the third seeded duo of Scott Lipsky and Brendan Evans. Lipsky is the 65th ranked doubles player in the world, and his tough volleys were too much for the 2006 Illinois graduate to overcome on Friday night, falling in three sets, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 10-5.

There is a slight change in Saturday's Finals schedule. The Doubles Final will begin promptly at 4:30, with the Singles Final getting underway immediately afterwards. The change was made to accommodate those Illini fans in town for Saturday's football game against the Northwestern Wildcats.

Admission in to the $50,000 2007 JSM Challenger of Champaign-Urbana is $10 for the general public and $8 for students. Tickets are available at the door, or by calling (217) 244-3318. Full results and a look at the draw are available at www.illinoischallenger.com.

Notes:
- There have been five times that an unseeded player won the JSM Challenger, the last being Justin Gimelstob in 2004.

- This would be Levine's second straight Challenger victory, and the second of his career. For Young, it's the second of his season, and also the second of his career.

- Donald Young would become the highest seeded player to win the JSM Challenger since Paul Goldstein, the third seed, in 2003. Young's previous Challenger victory was in Aptos in July of this year.

- John Isner's week consisted of 13 sets, in both singles and doubles. During that time, he played 10 tiebreakers. He won six.

- Rajeev Ram's record in doubles in the JSM Challenger is now 16-3. This is the first time he has not reached the Final.

Friday's Results:
Main Draw Singles, Quarterfinals
Jesse Levine (USA) def. #5 John Isner (USA) 7-6 (5), 6-3
#3 Donald Young (USA) def. Ilia Bozoljac (SRB) 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3

Main Draw Doubles, Quarterfinals
#4 Harel Levy (ISR)/Sam Warburg (USA) def. #1 Rajeev Ram/Bobby Reynolds (USA) 7-6 (4), 4-6, 11-9
#3 Brendan Evans/Scott Lipsky (USA) Ryler De Heart (USA)/Izak van der Merwe (RSA) 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 10-5

Saturday's Highlighted Matches:
4:30PM - #4 Harel Levy/Sam Warburg vs. #3 Brendan Evans/Scott Lipsky
5:45PM - Jesse Levine vs. #3 Donald Young

Quotes:
Rajeev Ram:
"I'll be playing in Knoxville, but then I've got four weeks of no tournaments. I'll spend most of that time with family, but there'll probably be a week in there somewhere warm."

John Isner:
"He returns really well, that's his game. But at the same time, I didn't feel like I served that well today. So it was a little bit of both."

"Any time you make the semifinals, it's a good week. I've done pretty well this fall. But I definitely want to take some time off from tennis."

Jesse Levine:
"I have a lot of confidence in my game right now; it is one of the big factors for me. I play my best tennis when I play a lot of matches, and lately I've been playing a lot of matches. My body is starting to wear down a little bit, but I'm on a roll and just trying to ride that wave right now."

Donald Young:
"There was obviously a lot of tension on the court, that's just how both of us play. But I think tension is good. Tension brings out the best of you on the court."

"Jesse is a great player. He's having a great two weeks. We've grown up a bit together and played in juniors. And then out here the last few weeks, I've gotten the best of him. But every match is different, so we'll see how it goes."

Ryler DeHeart:
"We had some good chemistry together this week. We won two tight matches, and then just got a little unlucky tonight. And they played very well."

"I still have some work to do in my singles. Next week I really need to step that up and get some points. I think over the next few months, I need to come in a little bit more behind my serve, and use my left handed serve more effectively. I feel I'm playing pretty well, and doing the right things. If I keep doing those things, it'll come together."