Oct. 6, 2002

Freshman Alex Hume, playing in the third collegiate tournament of his career, reached the semifinals of the Flight “B” draw of the Louisville Invitational. Junior Rahim Esmail was unable to advance past the round of 32 in the prequalifying tournament of the 2002 Icy Hot/ITA Men’s All-American Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn.

After straight-set victories over Brandon Campbell (Bellarmine – 6-0, 6-3), Marijon Panzic (Bradley – 6-3, 6-4) and Jeremy Clark (Louisville – 6-3, 6-1), Hume was unable to get past Ball State’s Kevin Burnett, as he fell in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Also at the Louisville Invitational, junior Matt Emery was defeated Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Flight “A” bracket by Tennessee-Martin’s Marten Tamla, 6-4, 6-4. After losing in the first round of that same draw, senior Elliott Datlow won his first match in the consolation bracket over Eastern Kentucky’s Alvin Cheng, 8-2. Datlow fell in the second round to Dayton’s Rob Altenau 9-8(1). The team of Hume and Datlow was unable to advance in the doubles draw, as they lost in the quarterfinals to Jhonny Berrido and Sebastian Aspillaga from Louisville, 9-8.

Esmail was unable to keep his win streak alive in the prequalies of the All-American Championships. He defeated Baylor’s Barry McLaren Saturday evening 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the round of 32 but couldn’t survive the match with Georgia State’s Matias Ormaza. Esmail lost the match 6-1, 6-3.

Sophomore Evan Austin, ranked #65 in the country, will begin play Tuesday in the qualifying tournament at the All-Americans. Sophomore Jesse Witten, chosen as the #1 seed in the Championships, along with junior Karim Benmansour, ranked #36, qualified for the main draw which begins Oct. 10. Austin and Benmansour will team up in the main draw of the doubles bracket, also starting Oct. 10.