March 14, 2002

— The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team took a dominating win over No. 57 Indiana on the outside courts of the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Thursday, March 14. Under fair skies with windy conditions, the Cats’ 6-1 victory puts them at 11-3 on the season thus far while Indiana falls to 6-6 overall.

The seventh-ranked Cats jumped off to an early lead sweeping the doubles point. The senior tandem of Johan Grunditz and Gustav Pousette grabbed the first win on the third court over Ryan Recht and Ari Widlansky. Jesse Witten and Matt Emery, the 2001 Clay Court champions, paired together for the first time in dual-match action to take a victory at No. 2.

In singles action, the Hoosiers came back fighting taking the first victory on the second court over Karim Benmansour to even the score 1-1. The Cats rallied back to take victories over Indiana on the remaining five courts. Pousette and Rahim Esmail, both undefeated in the dual-match season, extended their winning streaks with victories at No. 4 and No. 6. Pousette stands at 9-0, while Esmail is 13-0 on the season.

On the third and fifth courts, matches were still played to the end regardless of UK’s 4-1 lead. Matt Emery strongly took the first set before dropping the second to Recht, but would extend Kentucky’s lead with a third set win. After splitting sets with IU’s Zach Held, Evan Austin finished out the match at No. 3 once Held was given code violations that would eventually default the match with Austin leading 3-2 in the final set.

“Even with the windy conditions outside today, this team really worked together and didn’t let the weather stop us from getting the victory,” Witten said about playing on the outside courts.

The Cats hope that the weather will be just as friendly when they face 14th-ranked Florida on Friday, March 15. The match begins at 5 p.m. in the friendly confines of the Boone Tennis Center on UK’s campus and will be played outside it weather permits. Admission is free.

AGATE:
Singles
No. 1 – #5 Jesse Witten (UK) def. Milan Rakvica (IU) – 6-3,6-2
No. 2 – Jakob Praibis (IU) def. #39 Karim Benmansour (UK) – 6-2,6-3
No. 3 – #77 Evan Austin (UK) def. Zach Held (IU) – 7-5,4-6,3-2 (default)
No. 4 – #81 Gustav Pousette (UK) def. Tom Bagnato (IU) – 6-4,6-2
No. 5 – Matt Emery (UK) def. Ryan Recht (IU) – 6-2,1-6,6-2
No. 6 – Rahim Esmail (UK) def. Reid Strand (UK) – 7-5,6-0

Doubles
No. 1 – Austin/Benmansour (UK) def. Held/Rakvica (IU) – 8-4
No. 2 – Emery/Witten (UK) def. Praibis/Strand (IU) – 8-5
No. 3 – Grunditz/Pousette (UK) def. Recht/Widlansky – 8-2