Jan. 13, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 12 University of Kentucky men’s tennis team will kick off the 2011 portion of its spring schedule Friday when it begins play in the Southeastern Conference Coaches Indoor Championship at the Goodfriend Indoor Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tenn.
The tournament will run Friday through Monday, featuring players from eight SEC schools, including eight Wildcat players. The tournament is an individual-only event with a singles and doubles main draw and consolation bracket. The tournament will begin with the first and second rounds of doubles and the first round of singles Friday, followed by doubles quarterfinals and the second and third round of singles Saturday. A full schedule of events is listed below.
Kentucky will be represented well at the event in both singles and doubles with junior Eric Quigley leading the way with the overall No. 1 seed in the singles main draw. The native of Pewee Valley, Ky., will receive a bye to the second round of singles action which will be played Saturday morning. Quigley, ranked second in the country in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason singles poll, is coming off one of the best falls in school history, where he posted more singles wins than anyone else in the SEC.
Fellow junior Alex Musialek, the No. 7 seed in the singles draw, and senior Alberto Gonzalez, the No. 9 seed in the singles draw, also received byes to the second round. Both Musialek and Gonzalez begin the season in the ITA rankings with Musialek coming in at No. 39 and Gonzalez at No. 72.
Senior Brad Cox, sophomore Anthony Rossi and freshmen Maks Gold, Ryuji Hirooka and Grant Roberts also will represent UK in both main draws. Cox, Rossi, Gold, Hirooka and Roberts begin singles play Friday afternoon.
UK will have four doubles tandems playing in the first round Friday. All-Americans Quigley and Cox headline UK’s doubles action at the event along with the Frenchmen Rossi and Musialek. Quigley/Cox played No. 1 doubles for UK last year, advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals, while Rossi/Musialek played No. 3 doubles for UK in 2010. Gold and Gonzalez, and Hirooka and Roberts are the Wildcats other two doubles duos, both teams will be playing together for the first time Friday morning in the opening round.
Times for all matches are not expected to be finalized until late Thursday night. For more information on draws, times and scores, visit the tournament central page at UTSports.com.
SCHEDULE: The tournament begins at 8 a.m. from Friday until Sunday. The rounds are in order as follows:
Friday:
Main Draw Doubles: Round of 32
Main Draw Doubles: Round of 16
Main Draw Singles: Round of 64
Saturday:
Main Draw Doubles: Quarterfinals
Consolation Doubles: Round 1
Main Draw Singles: Round of 32
Main Draw Singles: Round of 16
Consolation Singles: Round 1
Sunday:
Consolation Doubles: Round 2
Main Draw Doubles: Semifinals
Consolation Singles: Round 2
Main Draw Singles: Quarterfinals
Consolation Singles: Round 3
Main Draw Singles: Semifinals
Monday:
Final Singles: 10 a.m.
Final Doubles to follow, not before 11:30 a.m.
