March 2, 2003
LEXINGTON, Ky. – In a five-plus hour battle that more resembled a heavyweight title bout than a tennis match, the ninth-ranked Kentucky men’s tennis team defeated 22nd-ranked Georgia 4-3 Sunday at the Boone Indoor Tennis Center. UK’s doubles pairs delivered the initial jab and freshman Alex Hume delivered the knockout punch for the Wildcats.
Kentucky opened the match by sweeping all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. At No. 1, Karim Benmansour and Matt Emery defeated Bo Hodge and Nicolas Boeker, 8-6. Rahim Esmail and Jesse Witten followed at No. 2 with an 8-5 victory over Stephan Timu and Raian Luchici. Evan Austin and Alex Hume completed the doubles sweep with an 8-6 win at No. 3 over Will Glenn and Strahinja Bobusic.
Esmail put Kentucky up 2-0 with an easy win at No. 4 singles over Bobusic, 6-1, 6-2. Georgia quickly countered as UGA’s Timu took out UK’s Austin, 7-6, 6-3.
In a battle of two tennis heavyweights, UGA’s sixth-ranked Hodge defeated UK’s tenth-ranked Witten, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to even the tally at two. Soon thereafter, Georgia would take a 3-2 lead as Luchici defeated Emery, 7-6, 6-0. It was at that point that the Wildcats began to show the mettle of a battle-tested champion.
At No. 5, UK’s Benmansour took the first set against UGA’s Boeker, 7-5, only to see Boeker follow-up with a second set victory by the same count. In the third set, Boeker led 5-3, but Benmansour rejected several UGA match points and took the following two games to tie the set at five. Benmansour dropped the ensuing game, won the game thereafter and finished off Boeker in the tiebreaker for a 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 victory that took over three hours to complete.
Alex Hume clinched the victory for Kentucky by winning in similar fashion. Hume took the first set, 6-3 and dropped the second set, 4-6. In the final set, Hume found himself in a precarious position as UGA’s Varela served for the match at 5-4. The freshman displayed the poise of a senior in taking the next three games to win, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
Kentucky Coach Dennis Emery appreciates the value of the Cats’ second victory over UGA in just over a week.
“Anytime you beat a great program like Georgia twice in nine days, it’s a real thrill. Our guys showed a lot of heart today and really fought until the end. It’s a great win for our team,” Emery said.
The victory marks the first time the Kentucky men’s tennis program has defeated Georgia twice in one season. Before UK’s 4-2 win over UGA Feb. 21, the Dogs had not fallen to the Cats in six years.
Kentucky will head out-of-conference next weekend as the Wildcats play host to No. 42 Indiana at 1 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 8 and No. 4 Baylor the following day at 3 p.m. All matches will be held at the Boone Tennis Center on the UK campus.
AGATE:
Doubles1. Karim Benmansour/Matt Emery (UK) def. No. 37 Bo Hodge/Nicolas Boeker (UGA) – 8-62. Rahim Esmail/Jesse Witten (UK) def. Stephan Timu/Raian Luchici (UGA) – 8-53. Evan Austin/Alex Hume (UK) def. Will Glenn/Strahinja Bobusic – 8-6
Singles1. No. 6 Bo Hodge (UGA) def. No. 10 Jesse Witten (UK) – 6-4, 4-6, 6-22. Stephan Timu (UGA) def. Evan Austin (UK) – 7-6, 6-33. Karim Benmansour (UK) def. No. 31 Nicolas Boeker (UGA) – 7-5, 5-7, 7-64. Rahim Esmail (UK) def. Strahinja Bobusic (UGA) – 6-1, 6-25. Raian Luchici (UGA) def. Matt Emery (UK) – 7-6, 6-06. Alex Hume (UK) def. Jason Varela (UGA) – 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
