The 10th-ranked University of Kentucky men?s tennis team earned the doubles point and swept through singles play on its way to a 4-0 win over No. 32 Boise State at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle. The Cats end their stint at the Indoors at 1-2 and 4-2 overall.
UK senior Rahim Esmail and junior Jesse Witten started things off at No. 1 with an 8-4 win over the 42nd-ranked pair of Guillaume Bovier and Thomas Schoeck. Junior Evan Austin and sophomore Alex Hume clinched the point with an 8-6 victory at No. 3 over Nils Klemann and James Ludlow.
The Cats used the momentum generated through doubles play to breeze through the singles competition. Austin defeated another ranked opponent, this time defeating 66th-ranked Matias Silva at No. 2 by a 6-2, 6-3 margin. Sophomore Nate Emge followed suit with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 5 and Hume finished off the Broncos defeating James Ludlow at No. 6, 6-3, 6-4.
Kentucky returns to action next Saturday, Feb. 15 at Florida Gulf Coast.
No. 10 Kentucky 4, No. 32 Boise State 0
Doubles 1. Witten/Esmail (UK) def. No. 42 Bouvier/Schoeck (Boise) 8-4 2. Rezk/Silva (Boise) vs. Emge/Martirosyan (UK) - DNF 3. Austin/Hume (UK) def. Klemann/Ludlow (Boise) 8-6
Singles 1. No. 16 Jesse Witten (UK) vs. No. 41 Guillaume Bouvier (Boise) DNF 2. No. 81 Evan Austin (UK) def. No. 66 Matias Silva (Boise) 6-2, 6-3 3. No. 58 Tigran Martirosyan (UK) vs. No. 87 Thomas Schoeck (Boise) DNF 4. Rahim Esmail (UK) vs. Nils Klemann (Boise) DNF 5. No. 100 Nate Emge (UK) def. Mahmoud Rezk (Boise) 6-2, 6-3 6. Alex Hume (UK) def. James Ludlow (Boise) 6-3, 6-4