Feb. 7, 2002
– On Thursday, Feb. 7, the 23rd-ranked University of Kentucky men’s tennis team was given the chance to avenge the 4-3 loss they suffered to UCLA in a dual match earlier this week. Unfortunately, the Wildcats were haunted by the Bruins’ tough line-up as they fell 4-2 in the first round of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Team Championship.
UCLA took the early 1-0 lead as they swept the doubles point. Evan Austin and Karim Benmansour fought hard but could not find a way past the top-ranked UCLA duo of Marcin Matkowski and Jean-Julien Rojer. Jesse Witten and Rahim Esmail took an 8-5 loss at No. 2, while teammates Gustav Poustte and Matt Emery fell at No. 3.
Kentucky took tough losses at No. 1 and 3 singles, but 10th-ranked Witten grabbed a strong 6-1,6-2 victory at No. 2 over No. 18 Rojer to give the Cats their first match point. Looking for victories at No. 4,5 and 6 to upset the third-ranked Bruins, Kentucky’s intensity took over.
Esmail grabbed the second UK victory at No. 6 as he dominated the final two sets over UCLA’s Lassi Ketola, whom he defeated in the UK/UCLA match on Tuesday, Feb.5. At No. 4, Emery found himself in a tough battle as he grabbed the first set win but dropped the second in a tiebreak. The third set showed much of the same intensity as Emery started the tiebreak ahead, 6-3,but dropped the set, 7-6(8) suspending the action at No. 5 in the third set, with Pousette leading, 7-5,4-6,3-2.
The Wildcats will face Southern Methodist, who lost to Southern California in the opening round, on Friday, Feb.8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Louisville Tennis Club.
Elsewhere in the tournament, top-seeded Georgia defeated Brown University, 4-1 and will face Notre Dame in the second round. Notre Dame took a tough 4-3 victory upsetting No. 7 Pepperdine University. Mississippi took an overpowering 4-0 win over Indiana State and will face Illinois who defeated California, 4-1. Stanford grabbed an evening win over San Diego State and will take on the Duke Blue Devils, who upset No. 4 Tennessee, 4-1. Individual team results can be obtained through the ITA webstie at www.itatennis.com.
AGATE:SinglesNo. 1 Tabias Clemens (UCLA) def. Karim Benmansour (UK) 6-3,6-3No. 2 Jesse Witten (UK) def. Jean-Julien Rojer (UCLA) 6-1,6-2No. 3 Marcin Matkowski (UCLA) def. Evan Austin (UK) 6-4,6-4No. 4 Rodrigo Grilli (UCLA) def. Matt Emery (UK) 6-3,6-7(5),7-6(8)No. 5 Erfan Djahangiri (UCLA) vs. Gustav Pousette (UK) SuspendedNo. 6 Rahim Esmail (UK) def. Lassi Ketola (UCLA) 6-7(2),6-2,6-4DoublesNo. 1 Matkowski/Rojer (UCLA) def. Austin/Benmansour (UK) 8-5No. 2 Clemens/Ketola (UCLA) def. Witten/Esmail (UCLA) 8-5No. 3 Djahangiri/Grilli (UCLA) def. Pousette/Emery (UK) 8-6
NATIONAL INDOOR SCHEDULE for Friday, Feb.8MAIN: 12:30 p.m. No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 10 Notre Dame No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 6 Illinois 4 p.m. No. 12 Southern California vs. No. 3 UCLA No. 9 Duke vs. No. 2 StanfordCONS: 9 a.m. Brown vs. No. 7 Pepperdine Indiana State vs. No. 11 California 7:30 p.m. No. 8 Southern Methodist vs. No. 23 Kentucky No. 4 Tennessee vs. San Diego State
