After a match in which he could seemingly do no wrong, where his serve was nearly untouchable and seemingly every shot touched a line, former Illini tennis star Amer Delic had to be somewhat sheepish.

“I actually felt bad for (my opponent),” Delic said.

On Sunday, Nov. 19, Delic became the first former Illinois player to win the professional Challenger tournament at Atkins Tennis Center, trouncing Zack Fleishman 6-3, 6-0 and leading an Illini sweep in both singles and doubles.

Fleishman had already ended current Illinois player Kevin Anderson’s run in the quarterfinals, but in the fina+l he was no match for Delic. The two players stayed close early, but Fleishman missed his one opening while up 3-2 in the first set and Delic never looked back. He hit 12 aces and produced a stunning ratio of 31 winners to only 5 unforced errors.

“He gave me one look, at 3-2, 15-30,” Fleishman said. “I missed a short forehand, (and) that was my only shot the whole match. He really stepped it up in the final. I don’t think he could have played any better. His timing was on. Everything was just clicking.”

The final seemed almost anticlimactic compared to the matches Delic won to get there. In the semifinals, he beat his former teammate, Rajeev Ram, in his third consecutive tight three-setter.

Ram looked dominant in winning the first set, 6-0, but like so many other times in the tournament, Delic pulled himself out of a hole to eke out a win, 0-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(4).

In 10 previous Atkins Challengers, only one Illinois player had ever even made the singles semifinals. This time, against one of the best fields in tournament history, the Illini had their best showing ever. Delic said the fans were instrumental in helping him raise his game in the final.

“It’s a good feeling when you’re walking out there and everybody supports you,” Delic said. “…I used the crowd. It wasn’t like the college matches though; I kept it all inside. But it was helping my game, and I think it showed.”

The victory will push Delic into the top 100 of the world rankings, ensuring him a spot in the 2007 Australian Open. Delic has already had the most successful professional singles career of any Illinois alumnus, and could rise even higher in the rankings with a strong start to 2007.

“It’s just a number right now, but it’s so much more,” Delic said. “For me, for my confidence. It’s great knowing that I set this goal of the top 100 for myself after the U.S. Open, to do it in the U.S., to do it in the toughest Challengers, and I was able to do it. I stayed focused on my goal, and it couldn’t have been a more perfect scenario to end it here in Champaign.”

Delic was the NCAA singles champion with the Illini in 2003, a year in which the Illini swept every NCAA tennis title. So it was somewhat fitting that Ram, one of the men who claimed the doubles championship that year, would take the doubles title at Atkins.

Ram had to overcome his partner in that 2003 NCAA run, Brian Wilson, to bring home the win at Atkins.

Both players were partnered with established professionals – Ram with Rik De Voest and Wilson with Andre Sa – but bantered with each other during the match. Ram and De Voest won the first set, but Wilson and Sa responded and took the second.

In Challengers, doubles matches feature a ten-point tiebreaker instead of the third set, and Ram’s side emerged victorious 10-7.

“That’s the way it goes in doubles now with the new scoring system,” Ram said. “A little bit of luck can really make a difference.”

Ram now has four consecutive doubles finals appearances and two titles at Atkins, but said this year’s win was no less gratifying.

“This year was great, obviously, because I also had some success with singles,” Ram said. “It’s always nice to be playing on the final day and getting a title…it has that same feeling as the first one.”