Nov. 7, 2008
ATHENS, Ga., and CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Several University of Kentucky men’s tennis players will conclude the fall season this weekend. Three Wildcats traveled to Athens, Ga., to participate in the Bulldog Scramble hosted by the University of Georgia, while tri-captain Bruno Agostinelli made a trip to the University of Virginia to take part in the prestigious Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championships held in Charlottesville, Va.
Agostinelli, the 19th-ranked player in the nation, has battled three top-five players on four separate occasions during the fall season. Last week, the UK senior defeated the nation’s top-ranked player in the nation at the Fluitt Invitational. This time around the Niagara Falls, Canada, native faced Robert Farah of Southern California, the country’s fifth-ranked player.
In the first set, Agostinelli pushed Farah to extra games before the Trojan pulled out the 7-5 edge in the frame. The Wildcat rebounded in the second set earning a couple of service breaks in route to a 6-3 decision to even the match. In a close, decisive set Agostinelli fell down a break and could not recover, dropping the match 6-4 in the third.
In the men’s singles consolation, Agostinelli battled through another three-set marathon match against Texas A&M’s Conor Pollock, ranked 17th in the nation. The Aggie took the first set with a score of 6-3, before Agostinelli bounced back to take the second set by the same score to even the contest. The foes were evenly matched deep into the third as the set went into extra games and eventually a tiebreaker which Agostinelli won to take the match in a 7-6(3) decision.
The victory sets up a rematch of the ITA Southeast Regional singles semifinal between the Wildcat and 10th-ranked John-Patrick Smith of Tennessee which Agostinelli won 6-2, 7-5 last month.
Three Wildcats, senior tri-captain Shane Collins, sophomore Will Beck and freshman Patrick Bandy traveled to Athens this weekend for the three-day Bulldog Scramble to battle players from South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss and host Georgia.
Collins forced Thomas Stoddard of South Carolina to three frames. The senior from Louisville took the second set 6-1 after dropping the first 6-2 to force a deciding frame. The SEC foes battled to extra games and a tiebreak in the third that went to extra points. Stoddard edged Collins 10-8 in the breaker to take the match 7-6. Earlier, Georgia Tech’s Chris Sheehan defeated Collins in straight sets 7-5, 6-4.
Bandy defeated Alex Hill of Georgia in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 after dropping tight, three-set match to Georgia Tech’s Doug Kenny 1-6, 6-2, 7-6(6).
UK sophomore Will Beck fell to Kalle Norberg of Ole Miss 6-4, 6-1 to open the tournament. Later, Georgia Tech’s Miguel Muguruza defeated Beck 6-4, 6-3.
In doubles action, Bandy and Beck fell to South Carolina’s Diego Cubas and Johannes Pulsfort, 8-4.
Action resumes tomorrow in Athens.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for all of the latest Kentucky men’s tennis news.
