Illinois does not begin its dual-match season until Saturday night, but several Illini have gotten a jump start on the competition.

Senior Ryler DeHeart and sophomores Brandon Davis and Ryan Rowe have competed in several professional tennis tournaments, while maintaining their amateur status, in Florida to hone their skills prior to this weekend’s matches against Ball State on Saturday at 6 p.m. and No.1 Virginia on Sunday at noon.

DeHeart was the lone current Illini in the 2006 Star Island Classic, a $10,000 United States Tennis Association (USTA) Futures event in Kissimmee, Fla. DeHeart, who was awarded a local wildcard into the main draw of the tournament, was stopped early on.

The All-American and seventh-ranked men’s college tennis player lost to qualifier Dmitry Vlasov of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-3. Vlasov had previously been ranked as high as No. 240 in the world in singles, during May 2003.

“I had a lot of chances in the first set, so I was pretty upset about that,” DeHeart said. “But I actually played pretty well. I wasn’t as upset as I usually am when I lose because I think I played pretty well.”

Davis and Rowe competed in the qualifying singles tournament of the $10,000 USTA Futures event in Boca Raton, Fla. Davis was eliminated in the first round of the 128-player field by American Chase Buchanan 6-2, 6-2. Rowe, however, continued the winning streak he started at the Mexico Invitational. Rowe swept through the Mexico Invitational undefeated, accumulating four singles wins.

In Boca Raton, Rowe handed a loss to former USC Trojan Adriano Biasella of Italy, who was the sixth-seeded player in the qualifying tournament. He also defeated Americans Bart Scott and Waylon Chin. He topped Scott 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, before defeating Chin in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

But Vlasov, the same man who had eliminated DeHeart in the Star Island Classic, stopped the young Illini. Vlasov beat Rowe 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Rowe was one win away from advancing into the main draw of the event.

Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said that Rowe’s serve and aggressive net play were instrumental in his victories.

“Ryan (Rowe) has really progressed,” Dancer said in a press release. “When the strengths of his game are on, he can really be a monster. He is not going to be fun for any opponent to play against.”