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Vucic Breaks into World's Top 150
 Ilija
Vucic broke into the Top 150 in the
world Junior rankings for the first
time this week, and celebrated his
achievement by reaching the second
round of the 27th
Asuncion Bowl in Paraguay in
controversial circumstances.
Ilija, who began the week at a
career-high No. 149 after a
successful South American tour so
far, overcame El Salvador’s Marcelo
Arevalo, ranked No. 91, in the first
round having had to win the match in
bizarre fashion.
With the scores level at one set
apiece, Ilija was convinced he’d won
the decider 6-3, only for the South
American to argue it was only 5-3.
Incredibly, the umpire called the
score 5-4, and Ilija was forced to
serve for the match again. This
time, the Serbian made sure of his
victory, powering down some big
serves to confirm his place in the
second round, with the official
score registering 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.
 “I'm
so happy to win this match,” said
Ilija. “I had to serve again for the
match. I was so angry but Jez was
cheering so loud and so was the
people watching I just made it with
some big serves. This was crazy but
so happy I won.”
MCTA Director of Coaching David
Sammel was delighted with Ilija’s
performance, and congratulated the
16-year-old on achieving another
milestone. “Ilija continues a steady
rise to the top of world juniors,”
said David. “South America is a
tough place to compete and this
experience will be invaluable to his
career. I expect him to be very
competitive this Spring and break
the top 100. Top 150 is a good
marker to hit considering he is a
year younger and also only played
regularly since signing for the MCTA
in September. He has no points to
defend until July.”
Unfortunately for Ilija, his second
round match against No. 11 seed
Cristobal Saavedra-Corvalan proved a
step too far as he went down 7-6,
7-5 against the Chilean.
Ilija will continue his five-week
tour of South America at the Banana
Bowl in Brazil next week.
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