April 18, 2002

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The ninth-ranked University of Kentucky men’s tennis team found sweet revenge against No. 29 Mississippi State in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Championship on Thursday, April 18. MSU had beaten the Cats in an upset in Lexington, Ky., on March 24, 4-3, in the regular season. The 4-2 defeat of the Bulldogs brings the Cats, seeded seventh in the tournament, to 19-8 on the season, while 10th-seeded MSU falls to 10-11 overall.

Kentucky took an early 1-0 lead grabbing the doubles point with victories on the first two courts. The senior tandem of Johan Grunditz and Gustav Pousette had UK’s first win at No. 2 with an 8-5 defeat over MSU’s Max Fomine and Aymeric Henou. On the first court, UK’s duo of Evan Austin and Karim Benmansour secured the doubles point with a strong victory over 31st-ranked Romain Ambert and Rene-Charles Combette.

Austin and Benmansour continued their success into singles action, to tally two more UK points. Austin grabbed a victory on the third court when the match was retired due to a shoulder injury to MSU’s Luis Carvalho. Austin had won the first set, 6-1, and was leading the second, 3-0, at the time of retirement. Benmansour had powerful straight sets for the win on the second court over MSU’s Combette to give Kentucky the 3-0 lead. Clinching the match victory for the Cats, Pousette tallied a straight set victory over Jerome LeBelicard, 6-3,6-4.

“This is a great win for us,” Coach Dennis Emery said. “We played with so much intensity and passion today, this is a great way to start off the tournament.”

The Cats will face second seeded, Ole Miss, at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 19 at the Varsity Courts on the University of Tennessee campus. Kentucky will look to repeat victories over the Rebels since defeating them 5-2 during the regular season.

AGATE:
Singles
No. 1#10 Romain Ambert (MSU) def. #7 Jesse Witten (UK)6-2,6-0
No. 2#55 Karim Benmansour (UK) def. #81 Rene-Charles Combette (MSU)6-3,6-1
No. 3Evan Austin (UK) def. Luis Carvalho (MSU)6-1,3-0 ret.
No. 4#98 Gustav Pousette (UK) def. Jerome Le Belicard (MSU)6-3,6-4
No. 5#118 Johan Grunditz (UK) vs. David Ruiz (MSU)SUS.
No. 6Aymeric Henou (MSU) def. Rahim Esmail (UK)6-4,6-2
Doubles
No. 1Austin/Benmansour (UK) def. #31 Ambert/Combette (MSU)8-5
No. 2Grunditz/Pousette (UK) def. Fomine/Henou (MSU)8-5
No. 3Esmail/Witten (UK) vs. Carvalho/LeBelicard (MSU)SUS.