March 26, 2007

MIAMI, Fla. ­ - Former Illini Amer Delic advanced into the fourth round with a huge win over the World's No. 4-ranked player Nikolay Davydenko at the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Fla., today. Davydenko, the tournament's fourth seed, became the highest seed so far to bow out of this year's tournament as he fell 7-6(5), 6-3, and the second seeded player to fall to Delic, who enters the fourth round for the first time in his career at the Sony Ericsson Open or of any Master Series event.

"It felt really good," Delic said about the win. "The fans were just screaming after the match and I was just soaking it in. It was fun."

Delic, who was a qualifier in this year's field, setup his match against Davydenko after advancing past Julien Benneteau of France, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the main draw, followed by taking down No. 31-seeded Jose Acasuso of Argentina 6-0, 6-3.

In his match against Davydenko, Delic faced a set point at 5-4 on Davydenko's serve. With a ball called out, Delic was the beneficiary of a the new video overruling system that overturned the call after he challenged it, proving to be a turning point in the match as Delic went on to break Davydenko in that point and send the set to a tiebreaker where he prevailed 7-5.

"He was having a tough time with my second serves, which were effective today," Delic said. "I also was using my slice a lot and he wasn't having fun with that. With his game, he tries to run you around a lot and put pressure on you that way. Today, I was able to put pressure on him. I started returning a lot better and played more efficiently in the second set."

Overall, the 2003 NCAA singles champion's aggressive play proved the match decider, as he rattled off 28 winners to just 11 from Davydenko and broke his opponent three times, while relinquishing his serve just once.

"I played a little sloppy at the beginning, but then I settled in and I was able to play my game," Delic said about the upset over Davydenko. "To beat a top-five player doesn't happen very often, especially for me. But it's not over yet, I've got another match."

Delic will next meet No. 23-seed Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina who upended No. 14-seeded Tomas Berdych (CZE), 6-4, 7-6(6).

For complete results of the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open and Delic's results from his next round's match, visit the official tournament site at www.sonyericssonopen.com.