Sept. 29, 2002
The Kentucky men’s tennis team finished competition at the Charles Fluitt Invitational Sunday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex. Sophomore Jesse Witten completed his undefeated streak, taking down #17 Michael Kogan (Tulane) in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Junior Karim Benmansour and freshman Alex Hume also came away with victories Sunday.
Witten, the only player in the Ranked Flight with five wins, defeated five ranked players this weekend, two of them – Kogan and Middle Tennessee’s Daniel Klemetz – in the top 20.
Benmansour earned his first victory of the tournament, a hard-fought 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Vanderbilt’s Scott Brown. Hume, playing for fifth place in the ‘B’ Flight, defeated Alvin Cheng (Eastern Kentucky) in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
Senior Elliott Datlow, playing for the ‘B’ Flight championship, was unable to get by Vanderbilt’s Jens Pilgram-Larsen, as he fell 7-6(4), 7-5. Junior Matt Emery lost to #38 Chad Harris (Vanderbilt) 6-1, 6-1. Harris (4-0) was the only other undefeated player in the Ranked Flight. Junior Rahim Esmail was unsuccessful in his bid to upset #69 Paul Ciorascu of Mississippi, dropping the match 6-3, 6-2.
Sophomore Evan Austin was the only Cat to not play on the final day. His match with #53 Cody Conley (Louisville) was cancelled because of an injury to Conley.
Next up for the Wildcats will be the Georgia Fall Invitational in Athens, Ga., Oct. 4-6, followed by the ITA All-American Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn., Oct. 8-13.
