Illinois freshman Brandon Davis was given a unique opportunity this weekend – one that many college athletes, especially freshmen, never receive.

He was able to go head-to-head against several top professional athletes at the ninth annual Northwestern Mutual/Wright Financial Group USTA Challenger – and he fared extremely well against the competition. He won his first match Saturday morning over Bjorn Munroe of the Bahamas 6-3, 7-6 (2).

“Since I won the first set, I was trying to keep the momentum going,” said Davis, whose serve was broken during the first game of the second set. “Right away, I made up my mind that I was going to come back and step up and play a good solid game.”

Davis didn’t fare as well in his second match – he lost to Jose DeArmas of Venezuela 7-5, 6-1, but he said he didn’t mind too much. For Davis, who is 17 years old and competing against many older athletes, the tournament was a learning experience.

“It doesn’t really matter your age,” Davis said. “You just have to go out there and play your best.”

Illinois head coach Craig Tiley was pleased with all of the men’s performances this weekend, but said that Davis was so successful throughout the tournament because of his positive mindset.

“It was good to see him put a match together like he did,” Tiley said.

Senior Chris Martin advanced to the third round of the qualifying portion of the tournament. He believes the experience will make him a better athlete, even though he was disappointed by his Sunday morning singles loss. Martin lost to Ramon Delgado of Paraguay 6-0, 6-4.

“I think when you play better players it exposes things in your game that usually don’t get exposed,” Martin said.

Now, Martin said, he realizes that he has to improve his transition game and net game to succeed on the professional tour. He also said he needs to learn how to exploit opponents’ weaknesses, using his strengths.

“A couple things will be lingering about what I need to work on,” Martin said.

Former Illinois All-American and current student assistant Michael Calkins is the only athlete with Illinois roots who made it through the qualifying tournament undefeated. He beat his former teammate Phil Stolt 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the main draw of the Challenger, which begins today. Calkins said the key to his success was his ability to keep his momentum going, especially on his home courts.

“I just happened to string together a few good points and it just got me rolling,” Calkins said. “We knew that once someone got a break, it was going to be an uphill battle for whoever got broken.”

The hardest part of the match, said Calkins – who has experienced arm pain the last several days – was facing a former teammate. When the men competed for the Illini, they helped their team win a national title. On Sunday, however, the men suddenly found themselves pitted against each other.

“I wasn’t really focusing on that it was Phil (Stolt) across the net,” Calkins said. “I was focusing on the ball, and Phil happened to be across the net.”

There are now seven current or former Illini competing in the main draw of the tournament.

Stolt will compete in doubles with Mario Torres of Brazil this afternoon.

Former Illinois All-American Rajeev Ram, who won the doubles title in 2003 with Brian Wilson, is set to play tonight, at approximately 6 p.m. He will take on Matias Boeker, a former NCAA singles and doubles champion.

Amer Delic, a former All-American, will also be playing tonight. The 2003 singles champion will compete in doubles with Calkins, his doubles partner while at Illinois.

The duo will take on Travis Rettenmaier and Adam Seri, both of the United States.

“Hopefully, I’ll play some good tennis and show everyone that I have been improving and that my tennis is progressing,” Ram said. “Whether I win or lose, I hope to just put on a good show.”