URBANA, Ill. – Illini junior Alex Brown made history at the JSM Challenger this week, becoming the first active Illinois player to reach the semifinal of the annual ATP Challenger Tour event held at Atkins Tennis Center.
Entering the tournament with a wild card bid as the No. 1583 ranked singles player in the world, Brown knocked off Hungarian Mate Valkusz (No. 567), Slovakian Blaz Rola (No. 139), and American JC Aragone (No. 290) to join Aleks Kovacevic as the second current Illini to reach a Challenger quarterfinal in as many weeks. A 7-5, 6-3 win over No. 258 Juan Pablo Ficovich on Friday gave him the deepest run in the JSM Challenger by any active Illinois tennis player.
"Big shout out to AB for a great run," Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said. "Semis is the best finish ever by a current Illini. AB has been putting the time in a ton. It's well deserved."
In addition to Brown's semifinal run, Kovacevic and Zeke Clark earned singles wins on Monday, and Brown and Kovacevic reached the doubles quarterfinal.
"It's been a great week," Dancer said. "Huge thank you to JSM and all of our supporters. This tournament is always special as it provides a look at the next step."
Singles and doubles finals are scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Full draws can be found at ATPTour.com. Live stream, live scoring, and more information can be found at illiniprotennis.com
