June 18, 2009

WIMBLEDON, England - Former Illini Rajeev Ram advanced to the Gentlemen's Singles Main Draw at Wimbledon, while fellow former Illini Kevin Anderson qualified for the Gentlemen's Doubles Main Draw at the All England Club. Main draw action will begin Monday, June 22. Wimbledon is the third Grand Slam of the year and is the only one played on a grass surface.

Ram's road to the main draw began with an opening round straight-sets win over No. 18-seed Lamine Ouahab of Algeria, 6-4, 7-6 (0). In the second round, Ram ousted fellow American Sam Warburg, 6-3, 6-2. In the final round of the gentlemen's qualifying singles draw, the 2003 NCAA doubles champion Ram defeated Italy's Andrea Stoppini, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the singles main draw. Ram is currently ranked No. 160 in the world in singles.

Anderson teamed up with Somdev Devvarman (IND) to reach the doubles main draw. In the first round of qualifying, the Anderson/Devvarman duo defeated the No.8-seed Ukraine duo of Sergei Bubka and Sergiy Stakovski 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, and later went on to oust the tandem of Alessandro Motti (ITA) and Joseph Sirianni (AUS) 7-6 (0), 6-7 (1), 8-6 to move on to the doubles main draw.

In all, there were 16 men who won their place in the Wimbledon draw from a field of 128. While in doubles, four men's teams qualified.

The Wimbledon Draw Ceremony will be held on Friday, June 19 at 10 am local time at the All England Tennis Club.

For the complete Wimbledon gentlemen's draws visit wimbledon.org, and for continued coverage of the Illini at the All England Club visit fightingillini.com.

Wimbledon - First Round Pairings
Singles
Rajeev Ram (USA) vs. Rhillipp Petzschner (GER) (Time/Date TBA)

Doubles
Anderson (RSA)/Devvarman (IND) vs. #4 Bhupathi (IND)/Knowles (BAH) (Time/Date TBA)