July 29, 2010

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Though the U.S. Open is still a month away, former Illini Kevin Anderson has already punched his ticket into the main draw, as the top 98 in the world received automatic entry into the Grand Slam event, announced July 22 by the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Anderson was ranked No. 96 at the time of the announcement and since then, has reached a career high No. 80 for the week of July 26.

The South Africa native was rewarded in the rankings after advancing to the semifinals of the Atlanta Tennis Championships, July 19-25, where he fell in three sets to second-seeded John Isner, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6. It was his first tournament since dropping a grueling, five-set heartbreaker to seventh-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in the first round of Wimbledon last month. Anderson followed up his run at the Atlanta Tennis Championships with the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles earlier this week, where he came up short in the second round against second-seeded and defending champion Sam Querrey, 7-6 (8), 4-6, 6-0.

Fellow former Illini Rajeev Ram also has kept busy this summer and has found success in doubles, having most recently captured the doubles title with teammate Scott Lipsky at the Atlanta Tennis Championships. It was the first doubles title of the year for Ram, who had reached the semifinals of three previous tournaments and the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Ryler DeHeart rounds out the group of Illini All-Americans in action this summer, as the 2006 grad reached a career-best ranking of No. 174 in May following his lone finals appearance of the year at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Manta, Ecuador. Like Ram, DeHeart has found much success in doubles play, as the Hawai'i native has claimed four titles on the year, including at the Honolulu Challenger with Anderson in January.

At the Lewis and Clark Community College USTA Futures Tournament in Godfrey, Ill., this past week, 2008 grad Ruben Gonzales was the lone Illini to earn a bid into the main draw with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat of David Holiner. He retired in the second set in his first-round match against Arata Onozawa.

Current Illini Bruno Abdelnour, Brian Alden, Johnny Hamui, Dennis Nevolo, Connor Roth and Abe Souza each competed in the qualifying draw as well, led by Abdelnour, who advanced to the final round of qualifying play before falling to Texas A&M's Austin Krajicek, 6-3, 6-3, and Nevolo, who lost in the third round of qualifying play to Michigan's Evan King, 6-3, 6-2. In doubles, Souza and teammate Blake Strode fell in the first round to Sekou Bangoura and Chase Buchanan, 7-6 (3), 7-5, who went on to defeat fourth-seeded Gonzales and Antonio Ruiz-Rosales in the second round.

2010 Highlights

Kevin Anderson
Attained new career-high ranking of No. 80 ... Advanced to semifinals of Atlanta Tennis Championships ... Played in main draw of Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon ... Won Baton Rouge Challenger singles title in April ... Won Honolulu Challenger doubles title with Ryler DeHeart.

Rajeev Ram
Attained new career-high doubles ranking of No. 33 ... Currently at No. 40 ... Played in main draw of Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon ... Won Atlanta Tennis Championships doubles title ... Advanced to quarterfinals in doubles at Australian Open ... Reached semifinals of Tallahassee Challenger in April.

Ryler DeHeart
Attained new career-high rankings in singles (No. 174) and doubles (No. 137) ... Claimed four Challenger doubles titles (Winnetka, Ill., Sarasota, Fla., Manta, Ecuador, Honolulu, Hawai'i) ... Advanced to final round of qualifying draw for French Open and Wimbledon.

Ruben Gonzales
Attained new career-high rankings in singles (No. 871) and doubles (No. 602) ... Won India F2 Futures doubles title ... Reached finals of Guam F1 and Guatemala F1 Futures tournaments in doubles.