The 10th-ranked University of Kentucky men?s tennis team narrowly escaped with the doubles point but dominated singles play in cruising to a 6-1 victory over No. 52 Louisville Thursday evening at UK?s Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex. The Cats improve to 3-0 on the season.

Senior Rahim Esmail and junior Jesse Witten got things going early for the Cats with an 8-4 doubles win at No. 1 over Jhonny Berrido and Octavian Nicodim. After Kentucky junior Evan Austin and sophomore Alex Hume lost a tiebreaker at No. 3, Wildcat newcomers Nate Emge and Tigran Martirosyan captured the Kentucky doubles point with an 8-6 win at number two.

Witten needed less than 45 minutes to defeat Berrido at No. 1 singles, never surrendering a game. Austin followed suit with a comfortable two-set victory at No. 2 over Nicodim. After Martirosyan lost at No. 3 in a third-set tiebreaker, Esmail clinched the Kentucky victory with a two-set win over the Cards? Jakob Gustaffson. Emge added a win at No. 4 singles and Hume capped things off with a two-set win at number six.

Several Wildcats will begin competition Saturday at the Harvard Invitational in Cambridge, Mass. The Cats resume dual-match play next Thursday, Feb. 5 at the ITA National Team Indoors in Seattle, Wash., where they will face sixth-ranked UCLA.

 Doubles 1. Esmail/Witten (UK) def. Berrido/Nicodim (UL) ? 8-4 2. Emge/Martirosyan (UK) def. Gustaffson/Johnson (UL) ? 8-6 3. Mayer/Clark (UL) def. Austin/Hume (UK) 9-8 (2) Singles 1. Jesse Witten (UK) def. Jhonny Berrido (UL) ? 6-0, 6-0 2. Evan Austin (UK) def. Octavian Nicodim (UL) ? 6-4, 6-2 3. Damar Johnson (UL) def. Tigran Martirosyan (UK) ? 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 4. Nate Emge (UK) def. Matt Mayer (UL) ? 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 5. Rahim Esmail (UK) def. Jakob Gustaffson (UL) ? 6-2, 6-4 6. Alex Hume (UK) def. Jeremy Clark (UL) ? 6-2, 7-6