The men’s tennis duo of Brandon Davis and Ryan Rowe entered the weekend’s Polo Ralph Lauren/ITA All-American Championships with high expectations, but those expectations were not fulfilled.

The Illini doubles team was upset 8-5 in the second round by Texas Christian University’s No. 22-ranked pair of Kriegler Bring and Cosmin Cotet.

“Obviously, going out in the second round is not what we wanted,” associate head coach George Husack said in a press release.

On the bright side for the Illini, Davis and Rowe used a late surge to beat the No. 16-ranked pairing of Mariusz Adamski and Cory Parr out of Wake Forest. Davis and Rowe led 4-1 at one point, but the Adamski-Parr pairing made a comeback to tie the match at seven.

In the tie-break Illinois won 9-8 (4), but in order to accomplish that feat, Davis and Rowe needed to win the last four points against the Demon Deacons, and they did.

“Brandon and Ryan did a great job of staying tough in their match,” Husack said. “It was a back and forth match … It was great to see the guys respond in the tiebreak and come out strong and end the match by winning the last four straight points.”

Rowe, No. 9 in the nation individually, also competed in singles, but the pain in his right foot due to plantar fasciitis – combined with the high quality opponents he faced – caused disappointment for the Illinois senior.

Rowe missed some of the preseason conditioning because of the injury.

He lost to No. 78 Denes Lukacs out of Baylor in the opening round 7-6 (6), 6-4.

Rowe had a set point opportunity when he was leading 6-5 but did not end up succeeding, and Lukacs won the tiebreak.

Additionally, Rowe played in the consolation bracket but had to retire early because he did not want to let his foot problems affect him too much when he teamed up with Davis for doubles.

In the consolation bracket, Rowe beat Mississippi’s Robbye Poole, ranked No. 18 in singles, in the first set 6-4 and lost in the second 6-3, but then Rowe retired while losing at the time 3-1.

With plenty of season left in front of them, Husack remained upbeat about the team’s chances.

“Going from here,” Husack said, “we will head home and continue to work hard and improve so that we can turn this into a positive for our next tournament.”