Former Illini Drops Three-Set Heartbreaker at JSM Challenger

Written by: Staff on 18th November 2011

Former Illini Drops Three-Set Heartbreaker at JSM Challenger

epa01609958 Amer Delic of the U.S. celebrates a point during his third round match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Australian Open Tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2009. EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA OUT, NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Former Illini All-American Amer Delic ended his JSM Challenger run Thursday night at Atkins Tennis Center with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) loss in the quarterfinals to 2009 challenger champion Michael Russell, the tournament’s top-seeded and highest-ranked player at No. 95 in the world.

“It was obviously heartbreaking for him and all of his supporters,” Illini head coach Brad Dancer said. “At the same time, you have to give a ton of credit to Michael Russell. He played outstanding when he was down match point and really played tough out there. It was really high-class tennis and great for those two players.”

Play resumes tomorrow at Noon CT at Atkins Tennis Center, highlighted by a clash between top-seeded Russell and fourth-seeded Rik de Forest at 2 p.m. CT in singles play. The top four doubles tandems will take the court tomorrow in semifinal action.

Results and updates will be available at http://www.illinoischallenger.com.

Singles – Quarterfinals

[1] M Russell (USA) def. A Delic (BIH), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2)

[4] R De Voest (RSA) def. H Heliovaara (FIN), 6-3, 6-1

[Q] P Polansky (CAN) def. [Q] J Smith (AUS), 6-2, 6-4

A Kuznetsov (USA) def. C Guccione (AUS), 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3

Doubles – Quarterfinals

[1] M Emmrich (GER) / A Siljestrom (SWE) def. C Hsieh (TPE) / H Lee (TPE), 6-3, 6-7(6), (10-8)

[2] C Ball (AUS) / C Guccione (AUS) def. [WC] D Britton (USA) / A Krajicek (USA), 6-3, 3-6, (10-7)

[3] J Fruttero (USA) / R Klaasen (RSA) def. A Hubble (AUS) / F Nielsen (DEN), 4-6, 6-4, 10-6

[4] R De Voest (RSA) / I Van der Merwe (RSA) def. C Eaton (GBR) / N Monroe (USA), 6-3, 3-6, (10-7)

Admission