Nov. 13, 2008

Former Illini Kevin Anderson used a dominating service game to turn back Michael Russell, 6-4, 6-2, and move in to the quarterfinals of the JSM Challenger at Urbana's Atkins Tennis Center. It's his second appearance in the quarters in the last three years.

Anderson served at a high percentage on Thursday night, not losing a service game while breaking Russell four times. It's a far cry from last week result, when Russell won in three sets, breaking Anderson in each of those three sets.

"I definitely served better than I did last week," Anderson said. "It's a positive for me, obviously, because then I can play a little serve and volley, and really go after my returns."

Anderson will next play Carsten Ball, who continued his hot streak with a straight set win over Prakash Amritraj. Ball upset the tournament's top seed, Vince Spadea, earlier in the week.

Rajeev Ram had a rough afternoon, getting pushed back early and often in a 6-1, 6-2 loss to the tournament's 5th seed, Kevin Kim. Kim's groundstroke depth was impressive, as he continued to keep Ram at the baseline, unable to approach the net and attack, as he likes to do on the fast Atkins courts.

The night's feature match was a thriller, as Taylor Dent pulled off his second win in as many nights with a 7-6, 7-6 win over three-seed Robert Kendrick. Dent looked sharper than he did Wednesday in using his serve-and-volley game to neutralize Kendrick's powerful forehand. This is Dent's first two match winning streak since October of 2005.

"These wins for me are more than just wins," Dent said. "I'm in desperate need of match play right now, getting in a lot of sets. The fact that I can squeeze by some of these guys, and get more matches just means so much. It's a double win for me."

It was a good night for two University of Illinois freshmen, as Dennis Nevolo and Ruan Roelofse continued their unbeaten streak with a straight set win over established pros Kevin Kim and Lester Cook. They move on to the quarterfinals tomorrow.

"He returned really well, and I was serving well in the beginning," Roelofse said. "In the tiebreaker, we put together a few good points and just continued to play solid in the second."

Nevolo and Roelofse have not lost yet as a doubles team, certainly providing Illinois Head Coach with a formidable pair to serve as his number one team this spring.

Admission in to the $50,000 2008 JSM Challenger of Champaign-Urbana for Friday's quarterfinals will be $5 for general admission, and $3 for students. For Sunday's finals, tickets will run $7 and $5. Tickets are available at the door, or by calling (217) 244-3318. More tournament information can be found at www.illinoischallenger.com.

Thursday's Results:
Main Draw Singles, Second Round:
Frank Dancevic (CAN) def. Ilia Bozoljac (SRB) 7-5, 7-5
Carsten Ball (AUS) def. Prakash Amritraj (IND) 7-5 6-3
Ramon Delgado (PAR) def. #2 Bobby Reynolds (USA) 6-4, 6-3
Sam Warburg (USA) def. Nikita Kryvonos (USA) 7-5, 6-1
#5 Kevin Kim (USA) def. Rajeev Ram (USA) 6-1, 6-2
#6 Wayne Odesnik (USA) def. Ryan Sweeting (USA) 7-6 (5), 6-4
#8 Kevin Anderson (RSA) def. Michael Russell (USA) 6-4, 6-2
Taylor Dent (USA) def. #3 Robert Kendrick (USA) 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5)

Main Draw Doubles, First Round:
#4 Ilia Bozoljac (SRB)/Chris Haggard (RSA) def. Carsten Ball (AUS)/Travis Rettenmaier (USA) 6-4, 7-5
#1 Rajeev Ram/Bobby Reynolds (USA) def. Sam Warburg/Todd Widom (USA) 7-6 (1), 6-7 (8), 10-3
Dennis Nevolo (USA)/Ruan Roelofse (RSA) def. Lester Cook/Kevin Kim (USA) 7-6 (2), 6-4

Main Draw Doubles, Second Round:
Brian Battistone/Dann Battistone (USA) def. Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)/Matwe Middelkoop (NED) 6-3, 6-4
Olivier Charroin/Nicholas Tourte (FRA) def. Alex Kuznetsov/Ryan Sweeting (USA) 6-2, 3-6, 10-8

Friday's Highlighted Matches: (all times after 12PM approximate)
1:30PM - #5 Kevin Kim vs. Ramon Delgado
2:00PM - #6 Wayne Odesnik vs. Frank Dancevic
3:00PM - Sam Warburg vs. Taylor Dent
6:00PM - Ram/Reynolds vs. Nevolo/Roelofse
6:30PM - Carsten Ball vs. #8 Kevin Anderson

Quotes:
Dennis Nevolo: "Right away we just played really solid. We fed off of each other really well, and were able to get some big points in that tiebreaker." On playing against a loose Lester Cook "We really didn't know what to expect. He obviously dropped his level a bit. But we had to maintain our level, and maintain our focus, and we did that."

Ruan Roelofse: "He returned really well, and I was serving well in the beginning. In the tiebreaker, we put together a few good points and just continued to play solid in the second."

Rajeev Ram: "I've played terrible against him the past as well. Ultimately, I just didn't make enough balls to stay competitive with him."

"I don't know if it would have changed anything. But I had some game points in that first service game. I just didn't convert on my game points, in that service game, and throughout the match."

"He does have great depth, especially on his returns. He does that really well. That's something you really have to contend with when you're playing him."

Kevin Anderson: "Early in the second, when he called for the trainer, I thought if I could just get the next two games, I'd be in pretty good shape. So I served pretty well and held , and then played a good game to get the break, and I was set."

"I definitely served better than I did last week. I just had the one break point down in the beginning, but I held it off and continued to play pretty well."

Taylor Dent: "He's such a dangerous player. He hit a ton of aces today, and just didn't give me a chance at too many second serves. All I was trying to do what to put balls in the court. But his forehand is so big as well. He was just hitting winner after winner with his forehand."

"I'm glad the tournament is happy to have me, because I'm happy to be here too. I get to do something that I haven't done much of."