Nov. 8, 2008
Six current or former members of the University of Illinois Men's Tennis team will be in action on Sunday at the Atkins Tennis Center, as play begins at the JSM Challenger in Urbana, Illinois. Ruben Gonzales and Ryan Rowe return as professionals, while Meedo El Tabakh, Roy Kalmanovich, Ruan Roelofse, and Abe Souza will give it a go as amateurs.
It will be a tough road for some of these Illini to make it through to this week's main draw, certainly toughest for Souza, who faces 13-year ATP tour veteran Ramon Delgado. The Paraguayan has been ranked as high as 52 in the world, and has played in all four Grand Slams. El Tabakh also received a difficult draw, and will face Izak Van Der Merwe in tomorrow's first round. Van Der Merwe defeated Amer Delic in last year's tournament to reach the quarterfinals.
In other first round action featuring players with Illini connections, Ruben Gonzales will face former UCLA star Tobias Clemens; Ruan Roelofse plays Travis Rettenmaier; Roy Kalmanovich takes on young pro Tim Smyczek; and Ryan Rowe plays Frederic Niemeyer. Niemeyer hopes to party like it's 1999. That's the year the Canadian won this event.
This could be the most talented qualifying draw, top to bottom, ever seen here in Urbana, highlighted by 2007 and 2008 NCAA Singles Champion Somdev Devvarman. He's had an amazing summer after departing the University of Virginia, reeling off 22-straight wins to start the year, which included three Futures titles, and a Challenger championship in Lexington, Kentucky. He also reached the quarterfinals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, an ATP event in Washington, D.C., before cooling off a bit this fall. He will be the qualifying tournament's #2 seed.
The top seed in the qualifying draw is Peter Polansky. The 20-year-old is a rising star from Canada, having defeated Amer Delic last week in Louisville.
Phillip Simmonds received the final USTA wild card in to the main draw of this week's event. Ryan Sweeting received a special exemption based on his performance in this week's event in Canada.
Two of the three former Illini entered in to the JSM Challenger main draw have arrived in Champaign. Kevin Anderson got in this morning, while Rajeev Ram arrived earlier in the week to visit long time friend and former teammate Ryler DeHeart, who is missing this week's tournament due to a shoulder injury.
Sunday's Highlighted Matches: (all times after 2PM approximate)
2:00PM - Frederic Niemeyer vs. Ryan Rowe
3:30PM - Roy Kalmanovich vs. Tim Smyczek/ Abe Souza vs. Ramon Delgado
4:30PM - Meedo El Tabakh vs. Izak Van Der Merwe/ Ruan Roelofse vs. Travis Rettenmaier
6:00PM - Somdev Devvarman vs. Lester Cook/ Ruben Gonzales vs. Tobias Clemens
