Time after time, professional tennis player Kevin Kim was on the verge of pulling away from Illini junior Kevin Anderson. But each time Kim looked ready to end the first set, Anderson’s power game would stop him dead in his tracks.

Anderson saved five set points in the first set, many with unreturnable serves or huge forehand winners, then pulled away in the second to finish off Kim 7-6(8), 6-3 at the professional Challenger Series tournament at Atkins Tennis Center – one of several dramatic Illini matches Wednesday night.

“You just want to make (closing out the set) as tough as possible for your opponent,” Anderson said. “I become a little more aggressive when I’m down, and right now I’m feeling really comfortable doing that.”

The win sent Anderson through to the second round, the best performance by a current Illini at Atkins. He is the only Illini player ever to win a main draw match at the Challenger, and he has now done it three times.

Early on, it did not look like the younger player’s night. Kim, ranked as high as No. 65 in the world last year, controlled play in the early part of the first set and broke Anderson to take a 4-2 lead. Even after Anderson broke back, Kim held a set point on Anderson’s serve at 5-4 and four more in the tie-break.

But Anderson came up with his best stuff on the big points, and when a Kim backhand finally sailed long on Anderson’s second set point, the air seemed let out of the professional.

Kim never really troubled the Illini player’s serve in the second seed and donated three double faults to let Anderson earn a break and cruise to victory.

Later in the evening, two former Illini managed to surpass Anderson’s match for pure drama. Operating on adjacent courts, both Amer Delic and Rajeev Ram won tense three-setters amidst a rollicking crowd that surged with each point.

“It was like a (collegiate) match out there,” Ram said.

Delic beat Phillip Simmonds 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, and Ram finished off Ilia Bozoljac 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 just a few minutes later.

For full coverage of night’s doubles matches, please pick up tomorrow’s edition of the Daily Illini.