Rajeev Ram has been part of many firsts while competing for the Illinois men’s tennis team.

He is a former All-American and an NCAA doubles champion. In 2003, he also helped the team to its first NCAA title. After his short collegiate career – he became a professional athlete after only a semester at Illinois – he started to make a name for himself at the pro level.

Last year, Ram became the first current or former Illini to reach the doubles finals of the Northwestern Mutual/Wright Financial Group USTA Challenger. This year, he became the first Illini to win it. Ram and doubles partner Brian Baker defeated Graydon Oliver, Illinois’ 2001 NCAA doubles champion, and Justin Gimelstob 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7).

“You don’t win very much out here,” Ram said. “Anytime you get all the way through, it’s pretty special.”

Brad Dancer, Ram’s World Team Tennis coach, said the win could help catapult Ram’s career by helping him gain self-confidence.

“It establishes him as one of the better players, doubles-wise, on the challenger circuit,” Dancer said. “They showed some resiliency.”

Early on in both sets, Ram’s serve was broken by his opponents, but he and Baker rebounded immediately, setting the tone for a hard-fought match.

“Last year, it was a little disappointing, being up a set in the break to win and not being able to close it out,” Baker said. “If you let someone consolidate a break, then it’s always an uphill battle the rest of the match.”

Baker was instrumental to the men’s success. His serve was not broken once throughout the match, which helped the men beat Gimelstob and Oliver, who have ranked in the world’s top 50. Baker and Ram had a higher first-serve percentage throughout the final than their opponents, which was one of the defining differences in the match, Oliver said.

“It was the kind of match where if you’re going to win a point, you have to win it,” Oliver said. “They’re not going to make a mistake. You have to take every point, and they got the best of us.”

Although Baker and Ram’s win could be seen as an upset – Gimelstob and Oliver were the No.1 seed – the younger men are not focusing on their opponents’ long list of credentials.

“If we play like this all of the time, we can move up the rankings pretty fast,” Baker said. “I don’t think one match means anything, but this tournament was definitely a stepping stone for us.”

The former Illini have faced off in the past, and Oliver said he anticipates competing against Ram in the future as well.

“(Ram) is a great player, a great person, and obviously a great advocate for Illinois tennis,” Oliver said. “I know that he represents Illinois as well as anyone else on the team has.”

Amer Delic was another former Illinois All-American who reached a milestone during the tournament. He became the first current or former Illini to reach the semifinals of the tournament. In the semifinals, he lost to Ramon Delgado 7-5, 7-6 (3).

“I wish I could have been in the finals, I wish I could have been the first to win (the singles title),” Delic said. “But I guess that will have to wait until next year.”

Dancer views the former Illini’s success as a benefit to the Illinois men’s tennis program. He would not only like to see the men continue to be crowned champions, he would also like to see the men who do not win titles compete deeper into the tournament.

Still, tournament director Craig Tiley is pleased with the men’s performances.

“(It’s) a fitting way to finish,” Tiley said. “Every year we seem to have a better and better event, and this year was no exception. We hope to grow this not only to be the premiere event in the state, but also the premiere event in the United States.”