Nov. 3, 2007

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A top-15 player stood in the way of senior Ryan Rowe today, but another determined Illinois men's tennis player prevailed in the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championships hosted by Ohio State in Columbus. No. 9-ranked Rowe upended 12th-ranked Adam Holmstrom of Denver 7-6(7), 6-3 to advance to his first National final of his career, second final of the season after earning a berth in the 2007 ITA Midwest Regional Championship match two weeks ago.

"It has been a great tournament for me so far," Rowe said after the win. "Adam Holmstrom came into the match today definitely playing some good tennis, so I was really excited to come out and win in a really close match that had only one break of serve."

The feat now pits two of the nation's top players in the finals on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 9:30 a.m. CT, as Rowe squares off against No. 1-ranked Somdev Devvarman of Virginia, the defending NCAA singles champion. The match can be followed on live web cast by clicking HERE or through live scoring by clicking HERE or going to wwww.itatennis.com and clicking on the National Indoors links at the top of the page.

"This was a very different matchup than what Ryan had in the first three rounds," associate head coach George Husack said. "He had a very big server and aggressive ball swinger in Adam Holmstrom today, who was accustomed to quick points. Ryan just did a great job of making him hit one extra ball, which is where he prevailed in the match. Ryan is a big player that can hit a lot of balls from the baseline, so that was very effective today. His serve indoors is a huge weapon and gives Ryan some free points, which was huge for him against Holmstrom."

"I think that last year at NCAAs I had to fend off a lot of set and match points, so that definitely prepared me mentally today for when I was down in the tiebreaker in the first set and then closing out the match in the second," Rowe said about his mental toughness against Holmstrom. "I have realized if you let the little things get to you, you are not going to win. I just tried to remain focused and push through."

Rowe's finals opponent tomorrow, Devvarman, was a winner over the surprising freshman semifinalist from Stanford, Alex Clayton, who earned his spot in the match after taking down fourth-seeded and 10th-ranked Greg Ouellette of Florida in the quarters. Devvarman easily moved past the rookie, 6-4, 6-4, in his semifinal.

"Somdev is obviously a very good player that can handle pace, proving that last year when he took down John Isner of Georgia in the NCAA finals, one of the biggest hitters in the game," Husack said. "So, Ryan will have to expect to get a lot of balls back tomorrow. It's going to be important for Ryan not to rush his game, which is something that Somdev likes to force his opponents to do."

Throughout the tournament, Devvarman remained the only steady seed in this year's National Indoor Championships, as six of the top eight seeds lost in the opening round, while another fell in the quarters. This is Devvarman's first National final of the year after just missing a berth in the 2007 Polo Ralph Lauren/ITA All-American title match when he fell in the semis to No. 4-ranked Travis Helgeson of Georgia, the eventual champion. Devvarman also is still alive in doubles, as he and partner Treat Huey are scheduled for their semifinal tilt later today.

"I think the reason I have done so well to this point is that I have been sticking to my game and to my game plan," Rowe said about his matchup tomorrow against Devvarman. "It is going to be important for me to not let anyone get me out of my comfort zone. On top of that, I really think that indoors suits my game, so I will look to continue to serve strong and go out and play my style."

In today's match for Rowe, he came out on a mission. Holmstrom was first to serve in the anticipated semifinal, but it was Rowe who was breaker hunting from the first return. Despite a pair of break point chances for the Illini, Holmstrom remained steady to hold, 1-0. Denied his chances to break, Rowe replied by making a statement on his first service game as he evened the match 1-1, holding at love. Trading holds, UI's top singles player eyed a pair of break point chances again at 5-all, but Holmstrom used timely aces to hit himself out of trouble, leading the match into a breaker after Rowe held, 6-all.

Overall, heading into the breaker, Rowe had chances to break throughout the course of the first set six times as he earned game-scores of 15-40 three times, but it was Holmstrom time and again that served his way out of trouble.

In the breaker, neither player flinched as each held to keep the frame on serve, 2-1 Rowe. However, receiving a minibreak in the latter stages of the breaker, Holmstrom earned two set points at 6-4 off a missed overhead by Rowe, loading the pressure on Rowe's serve. The senior Illini handled the pressure perfectly as he regained the lead and earned his first looks at a set point at 8-7, but he would have to seal it on a second serve. Rowe chose to slide his serve out-wide to Holmstrom's backhand to put his opponent on the defensive immediately, proving to be the perfect answer as he forced a return of service error en rout to a one-set lead, 7-6(7).

The set was the first Holmstrom had dropped the entire tournament, including in his win over No. 4-ranked and second-seeded Helgeson of Georgia in the opening round - a player who was coming off a title at the 2007 Polo Ralph Lauren/ITA All-American Championships.

In the second frame, it was Rowe who opened the set serving, holding twice to take a 2-1 lead, on serve. Pushing to closeout the contest, Rowe ordered up a service break at 4-3, taking a 5-3 lead to put the match win on his serve. With the finals in sight, Rowe took a 40-love advantage, but Holmstrom made the Illini senior work as he denied five match points down the stretch. While three usually is the magic number, for Rowe, he would not squander his final opportunity, converting his sixth match point to take the set 6-3, and the match in straights.

Play resumes tomorrow with finals of doubles and singles for both men and women slated for action at the Racquet Club of Columbus. Live scoring updates for all singles matches are available at www.itatennis.com, while video highlights and interviews will be available via www.thebraingame.net. Fans can find a complete recap of Rowe's championship match at www.fightingillini.com at the conclusion of action tomorrow.