Jan. 15, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Several of the country’s elite collegiate men’s tennis players from the Southeastern Conference will converge on Lexington this weekend when Kentucky hosts the SEC Coaches’ Indoor Championships at Boone Tennis Center and the Lexington Tennis Club beginning Friday and concluding on Monday.
The Championships consist of a 64-player singles draw and 32-team doubles bracket with first match consolation tourneys for each discipline. Tournament action begins Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. ET with first-round doubles play at Boone. At 1:00 p.m., the tourney moves to the Lexington Tennis Club (LTC) for the first round of singles action. Play will remain at LTC with the second round of doubles scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m., concluding the first day schedule.
UK senior Bruno Agostinelli, ranked fourth in the nation, will not play in this weekend’s tournament as a precautionary measure to recover from a right groin strain sustained last week in Hawaii, Kentucky head coach Dennis Emery said. The UK coach expects Agostinelli to be ready for the dual-meet season on Sat. Jan. 24.
Agostinelli is also one half of the No. 13 ranked doubles team with sophomore Brad Cox. Senior Shane Collins will take his fellow captain’s spot alongside Cox this weekend.
UK’s other ranked singles player, freshman Eric Quigley (No. 37), is seeded fifth in the tourney this weekend.
Eight other conference players in the top-100 singles rankings will join Quigley on the courts including the No. 2 player in the nation, Michael Venus of LSU, the top overall seed. Other ranked players include Georgia’s Nate Schnugg (No. 18), Jonas Berg of Ole Miss (No. 28), UGA’s Jamie Hunt (No. 35), 2008 NCAA singles finalist J.P. Smith of Tennessee (No. 50), Florida’s Joey Burkhardt (No. 63), fellow Gator Carlos Cueto (No. 87) and Ole Miss’ Bram ten Berge (No.89)
The top doubles team in the nation of Berg and ten Berge from Ole Miss will be in action Friday as the top seed. Bulldogs Schnugg and Hunt (No. 40) will be the second seed after winning the Southeast Regional Indoor Doubles title in Lexington last fall.
Participating players will represent eight conference programs ranked among the top 56 in the nation. The host Wildcats rank 36th nationally. Defending back-to-back national team champion Georgia is ranked third. Three other SEC schools rank in the top 10: No. 8 Tennessee, No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 10 Florida. The No. 19 Tigers of LSU, No. 23 Alabama and No. 56 Mississippi State round out the tournament field this weekend.
“The SEC Indoors is one of the best and oldest tennis tournaments in the south,” noted Emery. “It’s a great kick-off to the spring season. It is another chance to get our young players more experience and a chance of more match wins before the regular season.
“The strength of the SEC is the depth of talent in the league. An individual could go deep into this tournament or lose in the first round. I believe that the SEC is clearly the best conference in the country.”
Tournament brackets and agates will be updated following the conclusion of each match at www.UKathletics.com/mtennis so fans can stay updated with the latest results.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for the latest men’s tennis news.
