April 9, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky men’s tennis team wraps up its home schedule against two top-five teams this weekend. The No. 14 Wildcats host No. 4 Tennessee at 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday at the Boone Tennis Center then close out the weekend against No. 5 Georgia at 1:00 p.m. Sunday.
In February, UK (14-8, 4-4 SEC) defeated No. 4 Tennessee 4-2 on the road in non-conference action to record its first win over an opponent ranked in the top five since April 2005.
The Cats are coming off of a 4-3 defeat at No. 11 Illinois on Wednesday. UK, UT and UGA are three of the six Southeastern Conference teams among the top 15 in the nation. The others are No. 2 Ole Miss, No. 10 Florida and No. 15 Alabama.
UK senior Bruno Agostinelli remains the nation’s fifth-ranked singles in the latest rankings released. The captain knocked off No. 79 Marc Spicijaric of Illinois in straight sets Wednesday for his latest ranked-player conquest. In doubles, Agostinelli is also ranked with sophomore Brad Cox at 19th in the nation.
Tennessee (18-3, 7-1) is riding a 10-match win streak coming into the match. The Volunteers have won the doubles point in nine of those victories and are undefeated when taking the doubles contests this season (14-0). UT has only lost two matches in addition to the loss UK handed down to the Vols two months ago. Their other losses have been to No. 1 Virginia and No. 2 Ole Miss.
Two UT players are ranked in the latest ITA men’s singles poll, including No. 9 John-Patrick Smith and No. 33 Boris Conkic. Smith and doubles partner Davey Sandgren rank seventh in the nation.
Georgia (18-2, 7-1) will visit Vanderbilt Friday before facing the Wildcats Sunday. UGA’s two losses are also to the top-two teams in the nation, Virginia and Ole Miss. Last season, the Bulldogs defeated the Cats 5-0 in Athens.
Three Bulldogs are ranked in the latest ITA men’s singles poll, including No. 10 Nate Schnugg, No. 66 Javier Garrapiz and No. 72 Jamie Hunt. Together, Schnugg and Hunt rank ninth in doubles.
Please visit UKathletics.com for live stats and a full recap of both matches.
