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| Former Illini and NCAA Singles Champion Amer Delic will be in the chat room Tuesday, Nov. 3, starting at Noon CT. |
Catch up with former Illini tennis national champion Amer Delic. He'll be in the chat room Tuesday, Nov. 3, starting at Noon CT. Send in your questions today.
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| Moderator: Hey everyone, Amer just got here and is ready to begin the chat. |
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| Beef (Iroquois County): Why did you decide to do your rehab in Champaign-Urbana, as opposed to closer to home? How far away from finishing your degree are you? |
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Amer Delic: Beef! Like the name. Very original. By coming back to Champaign, I am able to kill two birds with one stone. Finish up my degree which I started off in 2000 and also do my rehab with the great training staff here. I am taking 22 hours this semester and all I will have left is my internship before I get my diploma. |
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| Mike (Champaign): You had a propensity for injuring yourself during your college career. Of the many injuries, which was your favorite? |
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Amer Delic: My favorite injury... that's a trick question. I have had so many it is hard to choose. I would have to go with breaking my wrist my freshman year and ending up with 5 screws in my hand. It made for a pretty good story. |
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| Phife Dog (Harlem): Amer- Having had the pleasure of watching you play at the USTA Challenger over the past few years, I've seen you break some rackets. How many have you broken in your professional career? |
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Amer Delic: Phife, thanks for checking in from Harlem. Breaking rackets isn't really something to brag about, however, I have broken a few over my lifetime. I can't really give a full count. This year though I made a big change. Instead of breaking rackets, I decided to give them away to the ball kids. It was a hit in Houston. |
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| Jimmy (Champaign): When your class was in Champaign-Urbana, the crowds you had with tennis were unmatched. How important do you think that social marketing is for the Olympic sports, in terms of person to person contact? |
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Amer Delic: Crowds during our matches while I played here were unbelievable. Thanks to the Net Nuts, opposing teams hated coming in to play us. At the same time, it helped us play much better. From college to pros, I have been a big fan of pro-ams and person to person interaction to promote ourselves. Especially on campus, tennis being a non-revenue sport, we had some help from the DIA, however, most of the marketing was up to us. From walking into the local stores and putting up our posters to making dinner announcements at sorority houses and such... |
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| Sharon (Champaign): Hey Amer! I've been following your career since you were here at Illinois! Can you talk about what it was like winning the NCAA title in 2003 and do you still stay in touch with your teammates from that team? |
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Amer Delic: Sharon, thank you for keeping up with me and my adventures on the Tour. Winning the 2003 National Team championship was the greatest experience in my tennis career. I have had a chance to play on center courts at the US Open, Australian Open and others, however, winning a title and sharing it with your teammates still tops it all. I am still in very close contact with most of the teammates. We try to have some sort of a reunion at least once a year. |
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| John (Champaign): Do you ever wish you would have stayed at Illinois for your senior year rather than going pro? I think most would agree you would have made that final four team a national champion. Best of luck with your rehab and hope to see you back on the tour soon! |
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Amer Delic: John, I have been asked this question quite a bit in my first few years on Tour. Looking back, it would have been fun to come back, along with Rajeev Ram to try and keep the winning streak going and repeating the title. Even without Raj and I, guys had a great run, keeping the streak alive and getting to the semi-finals. On the other hand though, the window of opportunities in professional tennis is so small and I decided to give that a shot. Before I turned pro, I talked to all of the guys and they gave me full support. |
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| Ryan (Oswego, IL): Hey Amer,
Do you ever see yourself coming back to your Alma Mater as a coach once your playing career is over? |
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Amer Delic: Ryan, coming back to U of I to coach somewhere down the road would not be a bad plan B, after finishing up my pro career. I have lots of friends and family in Champaign and Chicago area, so it wouldn't really be that tough of a move. However, I still have few more good years of tennis in me. |
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| matt (champaign): being a 28 yr old bosnian ball crusher,how does it feel to be back in school? do you get picked on in class? when will the store on your official site be growing? I need a t-shirt. |
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Amer Delic: Matt, you should know what it feels like to get old. Afterall, it is your b-day today. Also, I am only 27, so get your facts straight! As far as getting picked in class, that really doesnt bother me. Especially when it comes from you or Sam. Let me work on a new shirt design. Once I am done with it, I will make sure you get a few shirts. |
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| Rich(Rockford): Got to see your exhibition w/Kevin Anderson at UIC. Will we get to host the NCAA's with the new facilities in Champaign? Good luck w/rehab and schooling. |
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Amer Delic: Rich, glad to hear that you were able to make it to UIC exo to watch Kevin, Todd Martin, Pete Sampras and myself. Weather that day was awful, so you and the rest of the crowd deserved a hand for even making it. New facilities at the U of I are great and hopefully somewhere down the road we will get a chance to host the NCAA championships. |
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| Pete (Jax): What do you miss most about the Tour, and if we can't cheer for you at the Champaign Challenger, who should we cheer for? |
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Amer Delic: Pete! I miss everything about the tour... Honestly, you don't realize it until you are forced out with an injury. As far as the challenger this year in Champaign, there are lots of guys to cheer for. If you are an Illini fan, which I know you are, you can cheer for Kevin Anderson or some of the current team guys like Dennis Nevolo or Abe Souza. As far some other guys, Robert Kendrick, Taylor Dent, Alex Kuznetsov are always fun guys to watch and cheer for. Enjoy 85F in Jax! |
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| Anthony R.(Jacksonville, FL): From a tourist's perspective, what are your favorite countries to visit? Any good Spain stories? |
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Amer Delic: Anthony...
I have been very fortunate to travel the world playing tennis, and have seen many different places and cultures. Everyone is different and special in its own way. My top destinations have to be Australia (Melbourne or Sydney), Switzerland and believe it or not, Vancouver BC. I have been to Spain only once and that was in Madrid last year. I got super sick, so i didn't really get to venture out too much. Hopefully I will get another chance next year. |
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| K-os (Philly): Explain your hairstyle and headband options that you've gone with over the recent years. |
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Amer Delic: K-OS! Hair style was simply out of boredom. I never had long hair so I figured this would be the time to do it. When I am 35, it probably wont fly. Headband is simply to keep the hair out of my eyes.
PS. Hope the Phillies can pull it out in the Bronx. |
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| Stephanie (New York): Hi Amer! Who has been your toughest opponent on the pro tour? |
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Amer Delic: Stephanie,
I never had a chance to play Federer or Nadal. Played Djokovic couple times, Del Potro, Davydenko, Simon... However, the biggest beatdown I ever got was from Richard Gasquet at the Australian Open in 2007. Result wasn't that bad, but I never felt in control of one point. The spin that comes off of his racket was unreal. Playing vs. Nadal would probably be similar. |
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| Moderator: Amer had to get to class, but said thanks for all the great questions. Sorry he could not get to them all. |
| Moderator: You can submit questions for Thursday's chat with volleyball assistant coaches Kent Miller and Jen Flynn Oldenburg HERE. |
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