LEXINGTON, Ky. ? The University of Kentucky men?s tennis team kicked off the weekend with three players advancing to the singles round of 32 in the Wilson/ITA Southeast Indoor Regional. The host Cats? three seeded players No. 9 Bruno Agostinelli, No. 18 Will Ward and No. 25 Marcus Sundh each earned straight-set victories in their first singles match of the tournament.
Both of the Wildcats? doubles tandems also advanced to the round of 32 late Friday night with freshman Brad Cox teaming up with Agostinelli while Sundh and Ward were paired together.
UK junior Agostinelli (No. 44) defeated Georgia?s Christian Vitulli 6-3, 7-6 (3) to advance to Saturday?s round of 32. Kentucky senior captain Sundh only lost two games rolling to a 6-2, 6-0 victory over fellow 25th-seeded Mahmoud Hamed of South Florida. Fellow senior Ward (No. 90) served up a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Florida?s Dan Cash. All three Cats are in action Saturday afternoon at the Lexington Tennis Club (LTC).
The UK doubles tandem of Ward and Sundh dispatched the South Florida team of Estrada and Daudt 8-5 in a first round match. The new pairing of Cox and Agostinelli earned an impressive win over the fifth-seeded team of Schnugg and Hunt of Georgia, winning 8-6.
Both doubles teams return to action Saturday night at LTC time permitting, otherwise the Cats serve Sunday morning on the UK courts at the Boone Indoor Tennis Center. Check the brackets on the men?s tennis page for updated information.
Earlier in the day, Cox?s bid to join his teammates in the round of 32 was derailed by No. 3 Robbye Poole of Ole Miss 6-2, 6-3. Cox won a tight three-set match earlier in the day over Middle Tennessee State?s Joao Pailiello winning a 15-point tiebreaker in the third set. Thursday Cox won his first round match in straight sets, only surrendering five games.
UK freshman Alberto Gonzalez was the only other Wildcat to win on Thursday, beating Clifford Malivert of Florida A&M 6-4, 6-4. Gonzalez lost his round of 128 match in three sets to LSU?s Julien Gauthier. UK freshman Will Beck and returning Wildcats Jorge Jorge and Alex Lambroupolos all fell in first round matches Thursday.
Beck and Jorge bounced back in the consolation first round action Friday with victories to advance to the second round Saturday afternoon. Lambroupolos withdrew from further competition due to injury.
Continue to follow the Cats all weekend with updated results and brackets on UKathletics.com men?s tennis page.
