Boys tennis: The pressure is off for Wheaton North's Li

It might seem a little unusual, but Wheaton North sophomore Kevin Li is looking forward to Friday's singles match against Highland Park's No. 1-seeded Jacob Edelchik at the Class 2A boys tennis tournament.

"I don't get a lot of no-pressure matches," Li said.

It makes sense, considering Li was so successful he earned a 9-16 seed this season. He felt the pressure of high expectations in Thursday's opening two rounds despite also having played at state as a freshman.

"I was kind of nervous heading in, so I'm kind of glad I was able to get through these, even if it wasn't quite as easy as I hoped," Li said.

Li advanced with a 6-1, 6-0 victory against Bradley-Bourbonnais' Nathan Benoit and a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory against Bryce McClanahan of Glenbrook South at Buffalo Grove High School. He and Edelchik will play their third-round match at 8 a.m. Friday at Hersey on the second day of the three-day tournament.

"He played very well," Wheaton North coach Eric Laird said. "His first match he played really strong, had a solid, two-set win. His second match, once you get into that second round, all the players are good, and really in the first round with 64 (also)."

Li wasn't the only DuPage Valley Conference singles player remaining in Class 2A. No. 3-4 seed Ryan Roegner of Naperville Central advanced with a pair of two-set victories, including a first-round match against Glenbard East freshman Kevin Kruzel. Waubonsie Valley's Anthony Nguyen, a 9-16 seed, defeated Glenbard West's Christo Maltby in his opener, then won his second-round match in three sets.

In Class 2A doubles Naperville Central's 5-8 seed Bill Zhang and Martin Matov will play in the championship bracket Friday after losing just two games in their first two matches. Redhawks teammates Mark Polowczak and Ammeer Saeed, a 9-16 seed, also are through to the third round.

Naperville Central is tied for first in the team standings with Glenbrook North at 15 points. Hinsdale Central is fifth with 12 points.

Naperville North's Kirk Williams and Sam Liu, as well as Glenbard West sophomores Alex Kernagis and Griffin Foster, both pairs 9-16 seeds, also are alive in the championship bracket.

In Class 1A singles Montini's David Batka and Benet's Patrick McGuigan won twice. Fenton doubles players Joe and Jeff Andrews advanced to the Class 1A third round along with Wheaton Academy's Ty Krill and Owen Setran, Benet's Danny McGuigan and Casey Schrader and Timothy Christian's Nathan Daniels and Trevor Hoogendorn.

Benet has 11 points, good for second place in a tie with Normal University.