Oct. 23, 2002

The UK men’s tennis team will host the 2002 Omni Hotels Region III Indoor Championships Oct. 24-28 at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center and the Lexington Tennis Center in Lexington, Ky. The tournament will feature over 120 players from 29 schools in the region.

All seven of Kentucky’s players will be competing. Senior Elliott Datlow and freshman Alex Hume will compete Thursday in the qualifying tournament. The draw features 32 players with the top eight advancing to the main draw.

Five Wildcats are in the main draw and will start play Friday. Sophomore Jesse Witten is the No. 1 seed in the tournament. Junior Karim Benmansour (7th) and sophomore Evan Austin (14th) are also seeded in the bracket. Juniors Matt Emery and Rahim Esmail round out the draw for UK. In doubles, Kentucky will be represented by the teams of Benmansour and Austin, the 5th seed, Emery and Hume, and Esmail and Witten.

The winning doubles team, singles player and the singles finalist qualify for the Omni Hotels National Indoor Championships being held November 7-10 in Dallas, Texas.

Teams competing include Alabama, Alabama-Birmingham, Auburn, Birmingham Southern, Central Florida, Eastern Kentucky, Florida, Florida A&M, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Jacksonville, Kentucky, LSU, Memphis, Miami, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Morehead State, Murray State, South Florida, Tennessee, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech, Troy State, Tulane, Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky.

Draws and results can be found by clicking HERE.