Two freshmen joined the Illinois tennis team in January, instantly making their presence known.

Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe will be critical to the team as the NCAA Championship approaches. Now, they will have to show how much they have improved in the last semester in order for the team to reach its highest potential.

The Illinois team is hoping Anderson, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, recovers from a foot injury he sustained a few weeks ago to compete at his best during the NCAA Championships.

Anderson is one of only two Illini who earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors this season. He also was undefeated in singles play throughout the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Team Championships, where the Illini reached the semifinals.

Anderson, who began playing tennis as a 6-year-old, is the only Illinois tennis player from South Africa.

Illinois head coach Craig Tiley is a native of Cape Town, South Africa, and has always wanted to recruit a South African tennis player to compete for the Illini. But Tiley was patient and waited for “the right one.”

The right one was Anderson.

Anderson is one of the most talented athletes to come out of South Africa in recent years, Tiley said. South African newspapers have hailed Anderson as the future of South African tennis. It is a large responsibility for the 18-year old, but it is not one that he takes lightly.

“I sort of had a choice to go pro or come to college,” said Anderson, who will use his time at Illinois to develop his tennis game. “I want to go pro (eventually). I want to be No.1 in the world – I want to see how far I can go.”

Tiley said he foresees a bright future for both of the men as well, especially considering their youth.

“If they stay all four years here, which I hope they do, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be the top college players in the country,” said Tiley, who thinks the men should also finish their collegiate careers ranked within the top 500 of the ATP tour. “They should have also worked on their games to the point where they can go and compete with anyone in the world.”

The men have been working toward their goals of becoming top tennis players since joining the Illinois team.

Anderson, who is 6-foot-6, has focused on improving his serve and transition game. He is a self-described baseliner who feels comfortable holding serve. However, he would also like to be more aggressive by the time he hits the pro tour – a far cry from his beginnings playing swingball.

Rowe had a similar start, although his tennis career began much closer to Champaign than Anderson’s. Rowe began playing tennis at the age of nine in Moline, Ill., where he grew up.

For the past five years, Rowe has resided in Florida with his uncle, who also served as his coach. Among his positive attributes, Tiley lists Rowe’s strength and his height, at 6-foot-5. Rowe is also only the second left-handed player on the team.

Illinois junior Ryler DeHeart had been the Illini’s lone lefty before Rowe’s arrival.

Rowe, who broke his hand in late March, was making improvements in his game before his injury. Tiley said he still had more improvements to make.

Rowe’s addition to the team came even later than Anderson’s because of complications with NCAA eligibility regulations. But Rowe, like Anderson, has adapted quickly to the team environment.

The other members of the freshmen class helped him navigate through the dorms when he first arrived. Having another teammate join the Illini in January has been positive as well. The men were able to learn and grow together.

“I had to grow up a little bit and mature,” Rowe said. “Here I can get a good education, and Craig (Tiley) and (Illinois associate head coach) Brad (Dancer) can both help me in a lot of ways.”

The upperclassmen have also helped ease the freshmen’s transitions between the junior level and collegiate competition. Both of the new Illini had been homeschooled and were not used to being surrounded by so many other people.

“I’ve never had this many players all working at the same time,” Anderson said. “It adds another dimension to tennis.”

Anderson also had to adjust to being away from Johannesburg, South Africa for a long period of time. He had lived away from home for up to a month before, but not nearly as long as a semester.

But, Anderson said, he is “enjoying everything he’s doing right now.”

Rowe had already seen several Illinois matches before he ever put on his uniform. He attended the NCAA regional competition in 2004, during his senior year of high school. He also attended the matches when he was ineligible to play earlier this spring.

“I chose Illinois off of the bat when they started recruiting me,” Rowe said. “I thought it would definitely be the best situation – it is three hours from home.”

Tiley’s decision to recruit the men was relatively simple. When last year’s senior class graduated Illinois lost three All-Americans and five All-Americans in two years.

However, Tiley was careful when he recruited the athletes.

“We stick to recruiting American players, but we have no objection to having one or two foreign players on the team as long as they are of the proper (college) age and have met all of the minimum requirements,” said Tiley.

Tiley has been an advocate for eliminating athletes from collegiate competition who are older than most American freshmen. He also refuses to recruit athletes who might have professionalized themselves overseas before coming to college.

And, although Tiley believes the men will be successful, they also believe Tiley has the ability to transform them into the best athletes they can be.

Rowe has seen Tiley transform athletes with similar physical builds and playing styles into forces at the professional level, and would like to be one of Tiley’s next prot‚g‚es.

Anderson said he has seen the success of the South African pros Tiley has mentored such as Wayne Ferreira.

“It’s a great feeling all of those guys have gone on to doing what I hope to do in the next few years,” Anderson said. “So, hopefully, I’ll keep working hard and improve a lot.”