May 23, 2002

Jesse Witten, a freshman on the University of Kentucky men’s tennis team, secured a spot in the round of 16 at the NCAA Singles Championships with a victory on Thursday, May 23, at the Texas A&M Tennis Center in College Station, Texas. Witten, the tournament’s fourth seed, will face Amer Delic of Illinois in action on Friday, May 24.

In his second-round match-up with Stanford’s Scott Lipsky, Witten, the nation’s sixth ranked player, grabbed the first set victory with a powerful 6-4 performance. Down 4-2 in the second set, Witten rallied to claim three consecutive games for a 5-4 lead. At an even 6-6, Witten dominated the tiebreak to take the second set, 7-6(5), and head into the round of 16.

“Witten really played with a lot of emotion today,” Coach Dennis Emery said. “Being down in the second set, Jesse played his best tennis to come back and win it. He has a tough match against Delic tomorrow.”

Witten faced Delic in October during the fall tournament schedule in the quarterfinals of the All-American Championships. Delic dominated the match taking a 6-1, 6-1 victory.