UK Coach Dennis Emery will match wits with one of his former pupils when his Cats visit No. 7 Florida Sunday.
Emery, who recently picked up his 500th victory, will do battle against Florida Coach Andy Jackson, a Frankfort, Ky., native who played for Emery in the early 1980s. The match is set for 1 p.m. EST at the Ring Tennis Complex. Live scoring will be available at gatorzone.com.
A look at the latest ITA rankings suggests a competitive match is on tap Sunday. The teams feature six representatives in the ITA singles rankings and two doubles pairs in the ITA doubles rankings. UK senior All-American Jesse Witten, a Naples, Fla., native, holds a No. 6 singles ranking and a No. 19 doubles ranking with fellow senior Tigran Martirosyan. Florida features 29th-ranked Greg Oullette, 41st-ranked Hamid Mirzadeh, 51st-ranked Chris Brandi and 78th-ranked Vlad Obradovic. Oullette and Janne Holmia own a No. 20 doubles ranking.
In the schools? last meeting, Florida defeated Kentucky, 5-2, in blustery conditions at UK?s Boone Tennis Complex. Kentucky (9-5, 1-2) is coming off of a 5-2 home win Friday against South Carolina. Florida (8-4, 3-0) dealt No. 40 Vanderbilt a 7-0 defeat Friday in Gainesville.