June 27, 2007

WIMBLEDON, England - Former Illini Amer Delic made the most of his first appearance in the singles draw at the Championships at Wimbledon, defeating Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, in the first round of the championships hosted June 25-July 8 at the All England Club. Delic, into the second round of a major for the fourth time in his career - second this year after advancing at the Australian - now faces the talented 20-year old Serbian, Novak Djokovic, in the second round on Wednesday.

Djokovic, an up-and-coming phenom on the tour and arguably the next player not named Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to win a major, will be Delic's toughest challenge of his career. Ranked No. 5 in the World behind Federer, Nadal, American Andy Roddick and Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, Djokovic is having a tremendous 2007 campaign, advancing to the fourth round at the Australian and then the semifinals at Roland Garros.

With that said, Delic has quite a task in front of him in his second round match as Djokovic's only opponents to beat him in a major were the eventual champions of the Grand Slam, including Federer at the Aussie Open and Nadal at the French.

Djokovic brings a 41-10 record into the match, which is scheduled for Wednesday, June 28, while Delic is 13-28 on the year heading into the midweek affair.

In doubles at the All England Club, Delic is teaming with fellow American Bobby Reynolds for the first time this season. The two have a formidable challenge in the opening round of Wimbledon against the pair of Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland. With a one set lead (6-3) and on serve in the second 1-2, the American pair is on their way into the second round before rain delay has hit Wimbledon at time of release.

Baghdatis is best known for his singles play after reaching as high as No. 8 in the world in 2006. Should Delic go on to lead the duo into the second round, he will advance into the second round of a major for the second time this season - last coming at the Australian with partner Marty Fish (USA).

In other Illini tennis action, junior Ryan Rowe has advanced to the second round of the USA F14 Futures event in Shingle Springs, Calif., marking the second straight week to move into the second round of a tournament for the 2007 All-American. Rowe defeated Nima Roshan of the United States, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8) to earn a second-round berth. Rowe will face the winner of the No. 4-seeded Alberto Francis of the USA vs. Artem Petushkov of Russia match in the second round.

Also in the singles draw is former Illini Ryler DeHeart, who is scheduled to play Rong Ma of China in the opening round today.

In doubles, DeHeart and Rowe also have advanced into the second round, taking down John Isner and Robbye Poole of the United States 7-6(2), 6-2 in the opening round. They next face top-seeded Ryosuke Era and Kotero Isobe of Mexico in the second round.

In Rochester, N.Y., junior Ruben Gonzales is opening his summer hard court season at the Buffalo Bills Futures Tournament. In singles, Gonzales is set to face qualifier Ytai Abougzir of the United States in the opening round, while in doubles he is paired with Adam Fass of the United States. The duo will face Jeffrey Das (USA) and Peter Marrack (Canada) in their first round affair.

For continued coverage of current and past Illinois tennis players through releases and results, continue to visit www.fightingillini.com throughout the week.