April 13, 2003
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 12th-ranked Kentucky men’s tennis team took the doubles point and proceeded to capture four consecutive singles matches in an easy 5-2 defeat of No. 60 Notre Dame on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at UK’s Boone Tennis Complex.
Kentucky began doubles play with a slow start, but the Wildcats quickly made amends to secure the doubles point. At No. 1, UK’s Karim Benmansour and Matt Emery took the first two games of their match against Matt Scott and Brent D’Amico, but the Irish proceeded to win eight of the final nine games to prevail, 8-3. At No. 2, Kentucky’s Rahim Esmail and Jesse Witten won the first four games of their match, only to lose the next four. Undaunted, the 55th-ranked pair would battle back, winning by an 8-6 count over Luis Haddock and Brian Farrell. Evan Austin and Alex Hume clinched the point for Kentucky with a win at No. 3 over Ben Hatten and Paul McNaughton, also by an 8-6 count.
In singles play, Austin would fall a service break behind in the first set at No. 2, but the sophomore stormed back to take the set 6-3, and didn’t let up in the second, closing out Matt Scott, 6-0. At No. 1, Notre Dame’s Haddock gave UK’s Witten trouble in the first set, but the 2002 NCAA runner-up Witten fought off Haddock, winning 7-5, and cruised to a 6-3 victory in the second set to give Kentucky a 3-0 lead.
At numbers four and three, UK’s Esmail and Benmansour completed victories almost simultaneously to further deepen the Irish deficit. Esmail lost his first set to the Irish’s Farrell, 6-2, then came back to whip Farrell in the next two sets, 6-3, 6-2. Benmansour dispatched D’Amico in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. The Irish registered victories at numbers five and six, though the victory had long been in-hand for the Wildcats.
Kentucky Coach Dennis Emery said the victory over Notre Dame is one the Cats should savor.
“Notre Dame has one of the really great tennis programs in the country, and it’s always good to defeat one of the traditional powerhouses in collegiate tennis,” Emery said.
With the win, Kentucky finishes regular-season play at 17-10, while Notre Dame falls to 7-12. The victory bumps the Cats’ record against ranked opponents to 10-10 on the season.
The Cats’ 6-5 record in SEC play has earned Kentucky a No. 4 seed and first-round bye in this week’s SEC Tournament, to be played April 17-20 at the University of Mississippi. UK will play Friday at 9 a.m. EDT against the winner of Thursday’s match between the five seed, LSU and the 12 seed, Arkansas. During the regular season, Kentucky shut-out the Hogs in Fayetteville, but fell 4-2 to LSU in Baton Rouge.
AGATE:
Doubles1. Matt Scott/Brent D’Amico (ND) def. Karim Benmansour/Matt Emery (UK) 8-32. No. 55 Rahim Esmail/Jesse Witten (UK) def. Luis Haddock/Brian Farrell (ND) 8-63. Evan Austin/Alex Hume (UK) def. Ben Hatten/Paul McNaughton (ND) 8-6
Singles1. Jesse Witten (UK) def. Luis Haddock (ND) 7-5, 6-32. Evan Austin (UK) def. Matt Scott (ND) 6-3, 6-03. Karim Benmansour (UK) def. Brent D'Amico (ND) 6-4, 6-44. Rahim Esmail (UK) def. Brian Farrell (ND) 2-6,6-3,6-25. Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (ND) def. Matt Emery (UK) 7-6, 6-46. Patrick Buchanan (ND) def. Alex Hume (UK) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
