May 27, 2002

Jesse Witten, a sixth-ranked freshman from the University of Kentucky, dropped to Georgia’s Matias Boeker in the NCAA Singles Championship on Monday, May 27 in College Station, Texas in a match lasting a little over an hour. Top-seeded Boeker repeats as the national champion with his straight set victory over fourth-seeded Witten.

In first set action, Witten and Boeker found themselves in a strong battle with alternating game victories before Boeker took the set. 7-5. With tournament exhaustion taking its toll, Witten could not rally back in the second set, falling 6-0.

“I am very proud of the way Jesse has played throughout this entire tournament,” Coach Dennis Emery said. ” To come in as a freshman being the new kid on the block, he had an extraordinary career. I look for only greater things to come for him.”

Witten, a Naples, Fla., native, finishes the season with an overall 35-14 record standing at 18-9 during the dual-match season. Witten earned All- America honors while being named the ITA National Rookie of the Year as well as the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year. He also made UK tennis history as the second Wildcat to ever compete in the NCAA singles title match. Carlos Drada was defeated in 2000 by Stanford’s Alex Kim.

“Matias played great tennis today,” Witten said. ” I think I got too relaxed in the first set and he just came back in the second a little more energized and ready. I just wanted to hold up to my fourth seed during the tournament and I did. I was just trying to have fun with it, this experience as a whole was fantastic. I loved it.”

TOURNAMENT AGATE:First Round: Witten (UK) def. Steve Capriati (Arizona) 6-1,6-1
Second Round: Witten def. Scott Lipsky (Stanford) 6-4,7-6(5)
Round of 16: Witten def. Amer Delic (Illinois) 6-3,4-6,7-5
Quarterfinals: Witten def. Oliver Maiberger (San Diego St.) 6-3,3-6,6-1
Semifinals: Witten def. Ryan Haviland (Stanford) 6-4,5-7,6-1
Final: Matias Boeker (Georgia) def. Witten 7-5,6-0