Rowe Reaches Qualifying Final at JSM Challenger
November 13, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Nov. 13, 2011
Singles Qualifying | Doubles Qualifying | Order of Play | Singles Main Draw | Doubles Main Draw
URBANA, Ill. - Former Illini Ryan Rowe advanced to the final qualifying round of the JSM Challenger Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow American Nicholas Monroe at Atkins Tennis Center. The former NCAA All-American will take on Canadian Peter Polansky for a chance to join former Illini standout Amer Delic and Illinois seniors Dennis Nevolo and Roy Kalmanovich in the tournament's main draw, which begins tomorrow.
"Ryan did a great job today," Illini head coach Brad Dancer said. "He continues to manage himself very well on the court. I'm proud of what he's shown, and hopefully we'll have the full Illini nation out to support him tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Illini freshmen Ross Guignon and Tim Kopinski teamed up in doubles play. The pair of newcomers dropped a thrilling 6-4, 4-6, (10-3) battle to the duo of American Benjamin Rogers and Australian John-Patrick Smith.
"Tim and Ross competed well," Dancer said. "But their execution was substandard, and at this level, you can't be that poor on your serve percentage and return percentage and expect to win. But I do think they were engaged the whole time in their match and showed some maturation."
Highlighting tomorrow's main-draw action will be former NCAA champion Amer Delic, who will take the court in doubles play. Former Illini Marek Czerwinski will reunite with current Illini Nevolo in doubles play, while Kalmanovich will take the court in singles play.
"It will be a great opportunity for Dennis and Marek to test themselves against two of the best servers in the world," Dancer said. "I think Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione serve at an elite level. It will be a great test for them. Roy opens up singles play after that. I'm very excited for him in his first challenger main-draw opportunity, and I know he'll be really excited and ready to come out firing."
Results and updates will be available HERE. Complete result and recap will be available at fightingillini.com.
Qualifying Singles Second Round
T Smyczek, United States, def. A Musialek, France, 7-6(3), 6-2
R Rowe, United States, def. N Monroe, United States, 6-4, 6-4
A Bogdanovic, United Kingdom, def. B Rola, Slovenia, 7-6(2), 6-3
P Polansky, Canada, def. A Benneteau, France, 6-4, 6-0
J Smith, Australia, def. C Ball, Australia, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3
L Gregorc, Slovenia, def. C Eaton, United Kingdom, 6-3, 7-6(0)
M McClune, United States, def. G Ouellette, United States, 7-6(5), 6-3
K Kim, United States, def. J Jenkins, United States, 6-3, 7-5
Qualifying Doubles Semifinals
[1] U Ignatik, Belarus / D Matsukevich, Russia, def. M McClune, United States / N Roshan, Australia, 7-5, 6-3
[2] B Rogers, United States / J Smith, Australia, def. R Guignon, United States / T Kopinski, United States, 6-4, 4-6, (10-3)
Admission
Nov. 14-16 (Monday-Wednesday) - Free
Nov. 17-18 (Thursday-Friday) - $5 for adults; $3 for children
Nov. 19 (Saturday) - $7 for adults; $5 for children
