Feb. 22, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. — University of Kentucky men’s tennis junior Anthony Rossi has been named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week after going 3-0 over the weekend in singles action at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Men’s Team Indoor Championships, the league office announced Wednesday.
“A much deserved honor for Anthony,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “He has been one of the most consistent performers in the SEC this season and it was almost a matter of time before he won this award. We are proud of how he has played so far this season.”
The native of Marseille, France is coming off an impressive week at the nation’s signature indoor team tournament, posting three singles wins and a win over a highly ranked doubles tandem. Rossi started the weekend with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Junior Ore of No. 11 Texas A&M before taking down Peter Kobelt 6-2, 7-5 in UK’s quarterfinal match against No. 3 Ohio State. The star junior ended the weekend with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Bradley Klahn of No. 9 Stanford. Klahn is a two-time singles All-America honoree and won the 2010 NCAA Singles Championship. Rossi and fellow Frenchman Tom Jomby earned a big doubles win at the event, taking down No. 36 John Lewis and Colin Hoover 9-7.
The three singles wins took Rossi’s season record to a dominating 26-2, while he is 9-0 in dual matches. Dating back to the first week of January when the Wildcats were in Hawaii for the Rainbow Warrior Challenge, Rossi has won a career-best 16 consecutive singles matches.
Five of those wins came in the SEC Coaches’ Indoor Championships, where he became UK’s first singles champion in 23 years. Rossi defeated then-No. 10 Sadio Doumbia in straight sets in the final. Rossi’s appearance in the final marked the second consecutive season UK has had a player in the final of the annual event.
Rossi is ranked 13th in the nation in singles by the ITA, which is a career-high ranking. The junior has defeated eight ranked foes this season, including current No. 2 Henrique Cunha of Duke.
This is Rossi’s first-ever SEC weekly honor and the second of the season for Kentucky after senior Eric Quigley was named Co-SEC Player of the Week on Feb. 1.
Kentucky will return to action Saturday when it travels to Columbus, Ohio to face No. 3 Ohio State at 4 p.m. ET. The dual match will be a rematch from UK’s heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the Buckeyes last weekend in the ITA National Indoors.
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