Sept. 26, 2010

Complete Results

ST. HELENA, Calif. - The Illini men's tennis team wrapped up play at the Napa Valley Tennis Classic on Sunday, with junior and preseason No. 26 Dennis Nevolo going 3-0 in group play to earn a spot in the eight man USTA Wildcard Shoot-Out to close out the weekend.

Nevolo defeated Maks Gold of Kentucky, 6-1, 6-0, Sunday morning to secure a spot in the afternoon shoot-out, which consisted of the winners from each of the respective eight groups playing 10-point tiebreakers to determine the tournament winner. Nevolo drew No. 111 Sekou Bangoura of Florida in the first round and was able to edge the Gator, 12-10, before advancing to the second round to face No. 8 Eric Quigley of Kentucky, where Nevolo fell 10-5 to the eventual tournament runner-up.

Earlier in the day, senior Abe Souza was 2-0 heading into his final match, but was forced to retire after the first set against Mitchell Frank (USTA) due to injury and fellow senior Johnny Hamui rounded out the weekend with a comeback win over No. 122 Christoffer Konigsfeldt of Cal, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (5).

"This was one of the best run tournaments in the country," assistant coach Marcos Asse said. "It was a great tournament for our guys and we were able to end the weekend on a high note. Adding in the USTA players this year was awesome because it helps bridge the gap between juniors and college and they bring a lot of energy to the matches and create challenges. It was great to see Dennis get through and continue to do the things we worked on all week, as far as aggressiveness and serving and returning well. Bruno (Abdelnour) continues to make huge strides and I think any day now, he's really going to start turning it on and I can't wait for everyone to see that. Abe took care of business as usual and played well, it's just unfortunate his injury from Olympia Fields carried over into this weekend. Johnny ended in a great way, in front of a huge crowd against the hometown kid and he found a way to win and pulled it out."

Next Up: Nevolo will compete at the 2010 D'Novo/ITA Men's All-American Championships, Oct. 7-10 in Tulsa, Okla.

Complete Napa Valley Tennis Classic Results

Group 2
Jack Sock (USTA) def. Johnny Hamui (ILL), 6-4, 6-3
#9 Alexandre Lacroix (UF) def. Johnny Hamui (ILL), 6-2, 6-2
Johnny Hamui (ILL) def. #122 Christoffer Konigsfeldt (Cal), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (5)

Group 3
#62 Abe Souza (ILL) def. Anthony Rossi (UK), 7-5, 6-2
#62 Abe Souza (ILL) def. Jonathan Dahan (Cal), 6-4, 7-5
Mitchell Frank (USTA) def. #62 Abe Souza (ILL), 6-2, ret.

Group 4
#123 Nick Andrews (Cal) def. Bruno Abdelnour (ILL), 6-4, 6-2
Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) def. Hunter Harrington (USTA), 6-2, 6-3
#18 Ed Corrie (UT) def. Bruno Abdelnour (ILL), 6-4, 7-6 (4)

Group 5
#26 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) def. #102 JT Sundling (USC), 6-4, 6-2
#26 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) def. Mackenzie McDonald (USTA), 6-1, 6-2
#26 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) def. Maks Gold (UK), 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
Nick Andrews/Christoffer Konigsfeldt (Cal) def. Nevolo/Hamui (ILL), 8-4

USTA Wildcard Shootout
QF - #26 Dennis Nevolo def. #111 Sekou Bangoura (UF), 12-10
SF - #8 Eric Quigley (UK) def. #26 Dennis Nevolo (ILL), 10-5