Jan. 21, 2003

The ninth-ranked University of Kentucky men’s tennis team opens its dual-match season Wednesday, Jan. 22, with matches against Morehead State and SE Louisiana at the Hilary J. Boone Indoor Tennis Center. Admission is free. The Cats face the Eagles at 1 p.m. and will take on the Lions from SE Louisiana at 7 p.m.

The Cats ended the 2002 season with a 23-10 record, a No. 8 final ranking and a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals. Kentucky lost two players from that squad in Johan Grunditz and Gustav Pousette. This year, Kentucky keeps its top three players from a year ago – junior Karim Benmansour and sophomores Jesse Witten and Evan Austin. Witten comes in as the No. 4 ranked player in the country. Other returning lettermen for the Cats include senior Elliott Datlow and juniors Matt Emery and Rahim Esmail.

Joining the Wildcats’ tennis team this year is freshman Alex Hume, who finished the fall with a 13-7 record, and sophomore transfer Tim Morgan, who played a year for the University of Western Australia. Morgan saw his first action for UK last weekend at the SEC Indoor Championships.

Due to the double-header, the teams will play singles matches first and doubles matches if necessary.