May 3, 2010

MANTA, Ecuador - Former Illini All-American Ryler DeHeart claimed the doubles title with teammate Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (CAN) at a recent ATP Challenger tournament in Manta, Ecuador, April 26-May 2. DeHeart and Duclos notched three-straight victories en route to the championship match where they defeated Martin Emmrich (GER) and Andreas Siljestrom (SWE), 6-4, 7-5. With the win, DeHeart now ranks a career-best No. 180 in the world in doubles.

"I'm really proud and happy for Ryler," Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said. "He has continued to progress at the ATP level and epitomizes Illinois team spirit. He has been a great influence on our current team and I think our team leaders have learned a lot from Ryler's example."

DeHeart also advanced to his first title match of the year in singles, tallying four-consecutive victories before falling short in the final to No. 189 Go Soeda (JPN), 7-6 (5), 6-2. Despite the loss, he checked in at No. 174 in this week's rankings, which is also a new career high.