Jan. 31, 2003

The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team (2-0) will hit the road after a nine-day layoff Saturday when they take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 7:30 p.m. EST in Minneapolis, Minn. The contest marks Kentucky’s first road dual-match of the season.

The Wildcats advanced one spot to No. 8 in the latest ITA rankings after decisive victories over Morehead State and Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday, January 22 in Lexington. Kentucky features sophomore Jesse Witten, the 2002 NCAA runner-up, who is ranked fourth in the nation by the ITA. The Wildcats claim three other ITA top-100 performers in juniors Karim Benmansour and Rahim Esmail and sophomore Evan Austin.

Minnesota moved from No. 19 to No. 18 in the ITA rankings after home victories over SMU and Tulane last weekend. Minnesota features top-100 competitors Thomas Haug and Aleksey Zharinov.

After Saturday’s match with the Golden Gophers, the ‘Cats will return to the courts Wednesday, February 12 for dual-matches against Appalachian State and Murray State in Lexington.