As the University of Kentucky men’s tennis program has traveled the path to success over the past 15-plus seasons, there have been many milestone victories along the way. From UK’s first Southeastern Conference Championship to unlikely upsets to breakthrough performances, the recent history of the UK men’s tennis program is marked by big win after big win.
1988: Kentucky 5, UCLA 2
Los Angeles, Calif.:
Less than 16 hours after completing its victory over Pepperdine,the Cats downed the No. 8-ranked UCLA Bruins 5-2 at the Olympic Tennis Stadium. It was UCLA’s first loss ever at the stadium.Greg Van Emburgh and Richard Benson defeated Pat Galbraith and Brian Garrow 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles. Galbraith has since ranked as high as No. 2 in the world in doubles.”The win at UCLA so soon after beating Pepperdine established our reputation as a national power and a contender for the NCAA Championship for the first time,” Coach Dennis Emery said.
1988: Kentucky 5, Pepperdine 4
Los Angeles, Calif.:
The Wildcats were in the middle of a West Coast road trip that included matches with Pepperdine and UCLA. Pepperdine was led by the nation’s top two collegiate players.UK’s win was paced by Mario Rincon’s upset of Andrew Sznader, the No. 1-ranked player in the U.S. Other singles winners included Richard Benson and Jeremy Stinnett. When Greg Van Emburgh and Benson won at No. 1 doubles, it came down to the Cats fabulous No. 3 doubles team of Ian Skidmore and Willy Laban to clinch the victory.The victory was UK’s first road win over a top 5 team.
1987: Kentucky 5, SMU 4
Blue Grey Tennis Classic, Montgomery, Ala.:
SMU had a lineup which included future pro stars Richey Reneberg, John Ross, Stefan Kruger and Brian Devening.The Wildcats Andrew Varga and Steve Denney clinched the Wildcats victory. Former U.S. Davis Cup coach Dennis Ralston coached the Mustangs and their No. 1 player, Richey Reneberg — a future Grand Slam champion.Varga, the match’s MVP, put the Cats up 4-2 in an exciting 3-set singles win over Brian Devening. Varga rallied from a 3-1, 40-Love deficit in the third set to win. His comeback was made more amazing due to the fact that he broke four strings and had to play with a teammates racket.Varga and Denney clinched the match with a victory at No. 2 doubles.SMU Coach Ralston called it “one of the gutsiest upsets I’ve ever seen.”
1989: Kentucky 5, Stanford 3
National Team Indoor, Louisville, Ky.:
When Kentucky met Stanford at the National Indoors, the Cardinal were once again defending national champions. UK wins came at No. 2 singles where Adam Malik defeated future NCAA Champion Alex O’Brien and at No. 3 singles where Richard Benson defeated Martin Blackman.Adam Malik and Benson won at No. 1 doubles, and John Yancey and Andy Potter clinched the match at No. 2 doubles with a victory over Cathrall and Deus, 7-6 (9), 6-2.”This may have been our most satisfying win ever due to the quality of both teams and the importance of the situation,” Emery said. “The victory gave UK its first ever berth in the final four of a national team tournament.”
1986: UK 5, Georgia 4
Lexington, Ky.:
UK’s first modern era win over Georgia came before a packed house at home. With the team score locked at 4-4, UK’s No. 1 doubles tandem of Greg Van Emburgh and Pat McGee forced Phillip Johnson and Steve Enochs into a third set tiebreaker. Kentucky fought off seven match points beofre winning the breaker, 15-13.The largest crowd ever to witness a UK match (1200) supplied all the excitement that the UK players needed to pull off the upset.”This was our first big, break through win in the SEC,” Emery said. “Georgia had won 11 of the past 14 SEC Championships and was the defending NCAA Champion.”
1992: UK 5, LSU 2
at SEC Championships, Nashville, Tenn.:
The UK victory over the Tigers clinched UK’s first SEC title and wrapped up the fifth seed at the NCAA Championships.Kentucky got off to a great start when Andy Potter, playing at No. 4 singles, defeated No. 19 Juha Pesola and Scott Hulse, playing at No. 3 singles, defeated No. 14 Tamer El Sawey, 6-4, 6-4.Sophomore Mahyar Goodarz won at No. 2 singles, and freshman David Cully, who was playing with a stress fracture in his hand and a bone spur in his right foot, rallied from one set down to defeat No. 60 Michael Wesbrooks to give the Wildcats a 4-2 lead. Culley and Jason Yeager clinched the match with an easy win at No. 3 doubles.”I was so proud of this win,” Emery said. “It was the culmination of a great season for the four seniors. Culley’s doubles performance under such adverse circumstances was as strong a performance as we’ve ever had.”
1992: Kentucky 5, Mississippi State 4
Starkville, Miss.:
The victory over No. 6 Mississippi State was a solid win for the Wildcats. Kentucky got key wins from Scott Hulse at the No. 3 singles position and David Culley at the No. 4 singles slot.When senior John Yancey defeated the nation’s top singles player Daniel Courcol 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, the Wildcats evened the match at 3-3. Andy Potter and Hulse got Kentucky its fourth win and set up the deciding match at No. 1 doubles.With a huge, raucous crowd cheering for the Bulldogs, Yancey and sophomore Mike Hopkinson clinched the match at No. 1 doubles by ousting the No. 4-ranked doubles tandem of Damiens and Lagloire 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.”John Yancey had some great days and some great wins for us over the years, but I never saw him play better and with more poise than he did that day,” Emery said. “He handled the crowd and the whole situation so well.”
1994: Kentucky 4, USC 2
National Team Indoor, Louisville, Ky.:
Southern Cal entered the match as the defending NCAA Champion and the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Kentucky lost the doubles to go down 1-0 before its depth at singles came into plat.UK swept the bottom three singles in straight sets as Jason Yeager (No. 4), Ford Lankford (No. 5) and Jason Thompson (No. 6) played exceptionally.No. 2 singles player Mahyar Goodarz, coming off wrist surgery, downed 13th-ranked Jonathan Leach, 6-4, 7-5, to clinch the win over the eventual NCAA Champions. The victory for the Wildcats was USC’s only loss that season. The Trojans finished the year 25-1.”This win was certainly one of our proudest moments not only because of who we beat and what they went on to accomplish, but also due to the fact that two Kentucky natives — Jason Yeager and Ford Lankford — led the way,” Emery said.
1989: Kentucky 5, Georgia 4
at Athens, Ga.:
The nation’s featured pitted two outstanding teams against each other. The two teams traded blows until Adam Malik won in straight sets over No. 1-ranked Al Parker to lead the Wildcats to a 5-4 upset in Athens. It was one of Parker’s on;y loses at home all season.Andy Potter and Sammy Stinnett picked up wins at the bottom lineup spots, and Adam Malik and Richard Benson won at No. 1 doubles to clinch the win.The victory remains UK’s only win at Georgia.
1988: Kentucky 5, Clemson 2
NCAA Championships, Athens, Ga.:
Kentucky was seeded No. 6 while Clemson was seeded No. 9 in this round of 16 matchup at the 1988 NCAA Championships.The key victory for UK came at No. 5 as Willy Laban defeated John Sullivan after being down a set. The win put the Wildcats up 4-2. Other singles winners included Greg Van Emburgh, Richard Benson and Mario Rincon.Kentucky’s No. 1 doubles team of Van Emburgh and Benson rolled over Sullivan and Brian Page. The victory advanced UK to a round of eight showdown with eventual NCAA Champion Stanford.
1994: Kentucky 4, Duke 3
National Team Indoor, Louisville, Ky.:
The Wildcats upset fifth-seeded and No. 5-ranked Duke one night after downing USC. The stars of the show were Kentucky’s fourth, fifth, and sixth singles players.Local stars Jason Yeager and Ford Lankford won at number four and five singles, and Mahyar Goodarz topped Peter Ayers at No. 2 singles to knot the score at 3-3.Freshman Jason Thompson, playing at No. 6 singles, split tiebreakers with Hong Kond Davis Cupper Sven Koehler to send the match into a third and deciding set. Thompson and Koehler again went to a tiebreaker, with Thompson pulling out a 7-5 victory.The victory moved UK into its second appearance in the final four at the National Indoor and catapulted the Wildcats to a No. 3 national ranking, the school’s highest ever ranking.
1992: Kentucky 5, Florida 0
NCAA Round of 16, Athens, Ga.:
Kentucky swept a strong Florida (No. 11) team in the NCAA Round of 16 in Athens, Ga. Sophomore Mayhar Goodarz, No. 2 singles, beat arch rival Bruce Haddad to lead the way. Other Kentucky winners included Scott Hulse, David Culley, Andy Potter, and Stephen Mather.Florida had beaten UK in the final SEC regular season match, 5-4. The victory put Kentucky in the NCAA quarterfinals for the second time in school history.
1987: Kentucky 5, Stanford 4
National Indoor
Louisville, Ky.:
Kentucky defeated defending national champion and sixth-ranked Stanford. The victory was clinched at No. 3 doubles by Steve Denney and Keith Cook. They did not lose a single point on serve after taking a 2-1 lead in the first set.”Anytime you can beat the Cardinal its special. But, this was very special because it was our first victory over Stanford, and it was our first big win at the National Indoor in Louisville.”
1992: Kentucky 7, Pepperdine 2
Lexington, Ky.:
Under the leadership of legendary coach Allen Fox, Pepperdine brought a No. 6 national ranking into Lexington for this February encounter. Pepperdine was coming off an upset victory over No. 1 UCLA.Senior captain Scott Hulse keyed the victory by beating Howard Joffe at the No. 1 singles position. The win was significant because of the statement Hulse’s play made about player development at UK. Hulse had walked-on at Kentucky and went on to earn All-American status.
1989: Kentucky 5, Cal-Irvine 4
Lexington, Ky.:
Coach Greg Patton brought the No. 4-ranked Cal-Irvine Anteaters into the Boone Indoor Center for a pre-National Indoor test.A crowd of nearly 1,000 people spurred Adam Malik to an upset victory of future pro star Mark Kaplan at No. 1 singles, andRichard Benson to a win over Trevor Kroneman.”The crowd really helped me and hurt Kroneman,” Benson said after the victory.One week later, Irvine reached the finals of the National Indoor and UK reached the semifinals. The combination of the semifinal berth and the victory over the Anteaters moved Kentucky up to a No. 3 national ranking.
1989: Kentucky 5, USC 4
Lexington, Ky.:
Kentucky defeated defending NCAA Champion Southern Cal with the help of No. 1 singles player Adam Malik’s victory over future ATP star Byron Black in three sets. The victory was one of a 17-straight winning streak for Malik.The victory was clinched in doubles by Willy Laban and Ian Skidmore. An 800 person crowd witnessed Kentucky’s biggest victory ever at the Boone Indoor Center.”To be a great program, you have to have someone step up their game to another level,” Emery said. “Adam had one of the best runs we’ve ever had. We rode his broad shoulders in this match.”
1992: KENTUCKY 7 def. Pepperdine 2
Lexington, Ky.:
Under the leadership of legendary coach Allen Fox, Pepperdine brought a No. 6 national ranking into Lexington for this February encounter. Pepperdine was coming off an upset victory over No. 1 UCLA. Senior captain Scott Hulse keyed the victory by beating Howard Joffe at the No. 1 singles position. The win was significant because of the statement Hulse’s play made about the ability of players to development at Kentucky. Hulse had walked-on at UK and went on to earn All-American status.
1992: KENTUCKY 5 def. Mississippi State 4
Starkville, Miss.:
The victory over No. 6 Mississippi State was a solid win for the Wildcats. Kentucky got key wins from Scott Hulse at the No. 3 singles position and David Culley at the No. 4 singles slot.
When senior John Yancey defeated the nation’s top singles player Daniel Courcol 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, the Wildcats evened the match at 3-3. Andy Potter and Hulse got Kentucky its fourth win of the match and set up the deciding match at No. 1 doubles.
With a huge, raucous crowd cheering for the Bulldogs, UK’s top doubles tandem of Yancey and sophomore Mike Hopkinson clinched UK’s upset win by ousting the fourth-ranked doubles team in the nation, Damiens and Lagloire, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.
“John Yancey had some great days and some great wins for us over the years, but I never saw him play better and with more poise than he did that day,” Emery said. “He handled the crowd and the whole situation so well.”
1992: KENTUCKY 5 def. Louisiana State 2
SEC Championships — Nashville, Tenn.:
The UK victory over the Tigers clinched UK’s first and only SEC title to date and wrapped up the fifth seed at the NCAA Championships. Kentucky got off to a great start when Andy Potter, playing at No. 4 singles, defeated No. 19 Juha Pesola and Scott Hulse, playing at No. 3 singles, defeated No. 14 Tamer El Sawey, 6-4, 6-4. Sophomore Mahyar Goodarz won at No. 2 singles, and freshman David Cully, who was playing with a stress fracture in his hand and a bone spur in his right foot, rallied from one set down to defeat No. 60 Michael Wesbrooks to give the Wildcats a 4-2 lead. Culley and Jason Yeager clinched the match with an easy win at No. 3 doubles.
“I was so proud of this win,” Emery said. “It was the culmination of a great season for the four seniors. Culley’s performance under such adverse circumstances was as strong a performance as we’ve ever had.”
1994: KENTUCKY 4 def. Southern Cal 2
National Team Indoors — Louisville, Ky.:
Southern Cal entered the match as the defending NCAA Champion and the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Kentucky lost the doubles to go down 1-0 before its depth at singles came into play. UK swept the bottom three singles in straight sets as Jason Yeager (No. 4), Ford Lankford (No. 5) and Jason Thompson (No. 6) played exceptionally well. Mahyar Goodarz, playing No. 2 singles and coming off wrist surgery, downed 13th-ranked Jonathan Leach, 6-4, 7-5, to clinch the win over the eventual, repeat NCAA Champions. The victory for the Wildcats was USC’s only loss that season as the Trojans finished the year 25-1.
“This win was certainly one of our proudest moments not only because of who we beat and what they went on to accomplish, but also due to the fact that two Kentucky natives — Jason Yeager and Ford Lankford — led the way,” Emery said.
1994: KENTUCKY 4 def. Duke 3
National Team Indoors — Louisville, Ky.:
The Wildcats upset No. 5 seed and fifth-ranked Duke Blue Devils one night after downing USC. Just as they had the day before, the stars of the show were Kentucky’s fourth, fifth and sixth singles players. Local stars Jason Yeager and Ford Lankford won at number four and five, while Mahyar Goodarz topped Peter Ayers at No. 2 singles to knot the score at 3-3.
Freshman Jason Thompson, playing at No. 6 singles, split tiebreakers with Sven Koehler, a Hong Kong Davis Cup player, to send the match into a third and deciding set. The third set also went to a tiebreaker, with UK’s Thompson pulling out a 7-5 victory. The victory moved UK into its second appearance in the final four at the National Indoor and catapulted the Wildcats to a No. 3 national ranking, tying the school’s highest ever ranking.
1997: KENTUCKY 4 def. Stanford 3
National Team Indoors — Louisville, Ky.:
Kentucky took on the No. 1 seed and two-time defending NCAA Champion Stanford in a first round match. In the biggest upset of the 1997 season, No. 18 Kentucky won 4-3. The Wildcats won at the No. 1 individual match-up between UK’s Cedric Kauffmann and Stanford’s Ryan Walters. At the No. 3 spot UK’s Marcus Fluitt downed the highly touted freshman, Bob Bryan 6-0, 6-4. Senior Grant Elliot was stunned be a straight set loss to Dan Spaner. All eyes then turned to Court #4 where freshmen Carlos Drada was in a tight battle with freshman sensation Mike Bryan. Drada fought hard and was magnificent under pressure in the 7-6, 7-6 victory, which propelled the Cats to the quarterfinals. Kentucky then defeated Pepperdine and advanced to its third Final Four in nine years.
“This match was important for two reasons,” UK Coach Dennis Emery said. “First, the junior class of Kauffmann, Fluitt and Spaner, the core of our team, came through for us in a big way. Second, this win re-established us as a national contender and showed our players how all the hard work and perseverance pays off.”
1997: KENTUCKY 4 def. Georgia 3
Athens, Ga.:
No. 5 Kentucky took on No. 3 Georgia in a match that held major ramifications on the SEC and NCAA rankings. Things started poorly for the Wildcats as Georgia won the doubles and as Dan Spaner and Patrik Johansson lost at No. 5 and No. 6 spots, respectively, to put the Cats down 3-0.
Carlos Drada got the Cats on track by defeating Kevin Sessions and senior Ludwig Sundin beat former Wimbledon junior doubles champion Steve Baldas, bringing the score to 3-2. Marcus Fluitt rallied after a first set loss to upset the No. 9 ranked Eddie Jacques 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 to set up a truly great collegiate battle between the No. 4 ranked Cedric Kauffmann and No. 5 ranked John Roddick. Kauffmann forced a tiebreaker and, aided by a point penalty on the Georgia crowd, won the tiebreak 7-4. With Roddick seemingly demoralized after being forced into a third set, Kauffmann owned play in the third set, winning 6-2.
“Obviously the keys here were overcoming a large hostile Friday night road crowd and staying alive long enough to beat two top 10 nationally ranked players,” Emery said. “It means a lot to beat these players because they are such great competitors — both individually and in the Georgia team tradition.”
1999: KENTUCKY 4 def. Illinois 3
Champaign, Ill.:
After losing two of their previous three matches heading into their trip to Champaign, the Wildcats needed to do something big, so the Cats knocked off the 20-2, No. 2-ranked team in the nation with a comeback from the brink of defeat.
The Cats dropped the first point of the match when all three doubles team lost. UK would have to perform valiantly in singles if they hoped to take the match. With straight set losses at No. 1 and No. 4 singles by Johan Hesoun and Tomas Smid, respectively, the hope of an upset by the 13th ranked Wildcats seemed bleak.
The Cats got some life when Carlos Drada downed Cary Franklin, 6-2, 6-4, at the No. 2 spot and Edo Bawono narrowed the gap with a straight set win over Jeff Laski in the No. 3 hole. Gustav Pousette, at No. 5, and Johan Grunditz, at No. 6, dropped their first sets 6-4, before rallying in the second for 6-2 wins and cruising to victories in the third sets. The comeback was culminated when Grunditz recorded the final point against Illinois’ Arnaud Lantin to complete one of Kentucky’s greatest come-from-behind victories of all-time.
“It was our last regular season match and they were ranked No. 2 after beating some of the top teams in the nation,” Emery said. “To come back to beat them at their place was a tremendous boost for us.”
2002: KENTUCKY 4 def. Southern Methodist 1
Louisville, Ky.:
After falling to No. 3 UCLA in the first round of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships, the 23rd-ranked Wildcats faced the 8th-ranked Mustangs in a consolation match. After dropping two doubles matches to give SMU the doubles point, UK came back with four straight-set victories in singles action for the 4-1 win.
Jesse Witten, playing at No. 2, had little trouble with Alexis Rudzinski, taking the match 6-2, 6-1. No. 6 Rahim Esmail also finished his match with ease, defeating Eric Cohn 6-0, 6-2. Gustav Pousette grabbed a 6-4, 6-4 win over Gwinyai Chingoka and No. 4 Matt Emery closed out the match with a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over SMU’s Lukasz Senczyszyn.
“Our team has been giving 110% effort throughout and today it has finally paid off for us,” Esmail said of the victory.
2002: KENTUCKY 4 def. Tennessee 2
Louisville, Ky.:
A day after defeating No. 8 SMU, the Wildcats found themselves up against the No. 4 Volunteers in another consolation match in the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Once again, the Wildcats were unable to secure the doubles point as the team of Jesse Witten and Rahim Esmail, playing at No. 2, was the only pair to grab a win. After splitting the first two singles matches, No. 2 Jesse Witten, No. 3 Evan Austin and No. 4 Matt Emery all had straight-set victories, giving UK the win.
“We are finally beginning to realize how good of a team we are and that we have the capability of beating any team we step on the court against,” said Emery after the match.
2002: KENTUCKY 4 def. Notre Dame 1
South Bend, Ind.:
In the last match of the regular season, the 16th-ranked Wildcats upset No. 7 Notre Dame, giving UK their 18th win, the most regular-season victories since 1997.
UK grabbed the doubles point when the teams of Johan Grunditz/Gustav Pousette and Rahim Esmail/Jesse Witten each closed out their matches with 8-5 wins.
Although the Irish won the first singles match at No. 6 when Andrew Lafin defeated Rahim Esmail 6-1, 6-3, the Wildcats closed out the match with straight-set wins at No. 1 (Jesse Witten), No. 2 (Karim Benmansour) and No. 4 (Gustav Pousette)
“This victory means so much to this team right now,” Coach Dennis Emery said. “We have played with so much more intensity in our past four matches that we are back to the point where we are trying to win instead of trying not to lose.”
2002: Kentucky 4 def. Ole Miss 3
Knoxville, Tenn.:
In the quarterfinals of the SEC Championships, the 9th-ranked Wildcats faced No. 5 Ole Miss and came out with the thrilling 4-3 upset.
The doubles teams of Johan Grunditz/Gustav Pousette and Rahim Esmail/Jesse Witten won their matches to give UK the doubles point.
The Wildcats and the Rebels split their first four singles matches. No. 1 Jesse Witten needed two tiebreakers to beat Alex Hartman 7-6, 7-6. No. 5 Johan Grunditz had a convincing 6-3, 6-4 victory over Paul Ciorascu. No. 6 Rahim Esmail and No. 2 Karim Benmansour dropped their matches bringing the Rebels within one at 3-2. No. 3 Evan Austin battled Catalin Gard to three sets but eventually fell 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Pousette remained and found himself in his own three-set fight. After winning the first set 7-6 and falling in the second set 6-2, Pousette played Mississippi’s Martin Selin to a 6-6 tiebreaker in the third. Pousette prevailed 7-6 to give Kentucky the 4-3 victory.
