Delic Upsets, Rest of Illini Fall-Day Three JSM Illinois Challenger

Amer Delic is back on the circuit and there’s no better place for him to show that than at the school where he won an NCAA singles title and helped lead the way to a team championship. 

On day three at the JSM Illinois Challenger, Delic continued his solid play with an upset of the top seed.  The former Fighting Illini took out Kei Nishikori of Japan in straight sets (7-5,6-3).  He will play the University of Southern California’s Steve Johnson in the quarterfinals.  Johnson, who is playing as an amateur during the off season of college, beat James Lemke of Australia, 7-5,7-6(2).

Not surprisingly, the doubles draw is very representative of the Big Ten school. (University of Illinois teams have won three NCAA Doubles Championships.)  Out of the 16 remaining players in the draw, six are past or present Illini, even though two teams dropped on Wednesday.  Current players Dennis Nevolo &  Abraham Souza (above) fell to Alex Kuznetsov & Alex Bogomolov, 6-4,7-5, and Brian Livingston & partner Ric Mortera lost to Chris Guccione & Peter Luczak, 6-2,6-3. 

In other single matches, former Duke player Michael Yani was all on in his 6-3,6-4 win over Jesse Levine, who did a stint at the University of Florida.  He will face Kentucky grad Jesse Witten, a winner (6-3,6-3) over Raven Klaasen.  In the bottom half, Fritz Wolmarans, who beat Nicholas Monroe, 6-3,7-6(3), is up against Alex Bogomolov, the victor over Greg Jones (7-6(3),6-3).  Bobby Reynolds, who won 7-6(10),6-4 over Dennis Bloemke, faces second-seeded Peter Luczak, the 7-6(11),6-2 winner over Alex Kuznetsov.

The schedule at the University of Illinois’ Atkins Tennis Center for Thursday is as follows:

12 Noon-
Doubles-Ryler DeHeart & Pierre-Ludovic Duclos vs. John Paul Fruttero & David Martin
Singles-Alex Bogomolov vs. Fritz Wolmarans
Followed by-
Singles-Bobby Reynolds vs. Peter Luczak

Not before 2:00 pm-
Alex Bogomolov & Alex Kuznetsov vs. Raven Klaasen & Izak Van der Merwe

Not before 3:30 pm-
Singles-Amer Delic vs. Steve Johnson

Not before 6:30 pm-
Jesse Witten vs. Michael Yani

Not before 7:00 pm-
Doubles-Marek Czwerwinksi & Ryan Rowe vs. Amer Delic & Bobby Reynolds

Not before 8:30 pm-
Johnny Hamui & Karunuday Singh vs. Chris Guccione Peter Luczak
 For full draws and results, visit the official website for the JSM Illinois Challenger.  Follow updates during the match at http://www.twitter.com/MarciaLF24