Two Kentucky Men’s Tennis Players Ranked to Start Fall Season

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky tennis
players William Bushamuka and Ryo Matsumura will both begin the fall season
ranked, it was announced on Tuesday afternoon by the Intercollegiate Tennis
Association in the initial release of the Oracle ITA Division I Men’s Tennis
Rankings.

Bushamuka, the No. 1 singles player for the
Wildcats in Kentucky’s 2016 return to the NCAA Tournament will start the season
ranked No. 16 nationally, and the top-ranked Wildcat. The IMG Academy graduate
is the third-highest ranked player in the Southeastern Conference, only
trailing Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) and Arkansas’ Michael Redlicki.

Sophomore Ryo Matsumura will start off the
fall season ranked in the No. 28 slot, his highest-career ranking in the Oracle
ITA Rankings. Matsumura finished the season ranked No. 35 in the rankings and
capped off the 2016 spring season with an 18-5 overall record and a 7-3 record
in SEC play.

Bushamuka, who was the highest-ranked Wildcat
at the end of 2016 in the spring at No. 31, went 14-8 last season overall,
including an 11-5 record on the No. 1 court for UK. He was the only player for
UK to play the No. 1 court in SEC matches this season, going 5-6 in league
play.

Bushamuka will also start the fall season
ranked in doubles play, as he joins Beck Pennington, coming off a medical
redshirt season, as they will slot in at No. 31 in doubles to start the year.

Kentucky kicks off its fall season the weekend
of Sept. 22-24 as the squad will split, with half traveling south to the Cajuan
Classic in Lafayette, La., and the other half traveling to the UVa Ranked 1+1
Ranked Invitational in Charlottesville, Va.

For the latest on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter and
Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.