Kentucky senior Jesse Witten commenced a late rally to advance to the round of 32 Wednesday at the NCAA Men?s Singles Championships at Texas A&M?s Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station.

Witten rallied from one-set and substantial third-set deficits to defeat Texas Tech?s 20th-ranked Radek Nijaki, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. He moves on to Thursday?s round of 32 where he?ll take on Brown?s Adil Shamasdin, a 2-6, 6-0, 6-4 upset winner over Virginia?s 12th-ranked Doug Stewart.

Nijaki broke Witten early on in the first set and served out to win the first set, 6-4. Nijaki followed suit in the second until Witten recorded a service break in the ninth game for a 5-4 second-set lead. Witten served out the last game to take the set, 6-4.

For a third-consecutive set, Nijaki broke Witten early to take a commanding 4-1 lead. Witten bounced back to even the match at four, though Nijaki held serve in the ninth game to lead, 5-4. Needing to hold serve to remain in the tournament, Witten came through and scored a crucial service break of Nijaki in the 11th game before serving out the rest of the way to get the win.

Witten advances to the round of 32 for the first time since 2003 after dropping a two-set match to Stanford?s K.C. Corkery a season ago. Thursday?s singles action begins at 11 a.m. EDT. Live scoring for each match is available at aggieathletics.com.

NCAA Men?s Singles Championships ? College Station, Texas
Round of 64

(3) Jesse Witten (UK) def. No. 20 Radek Nijaki (Texas Tech) ? 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

Thursday, May 26 ? Singles Round of 32

(3) Jesse Witten (UK) vs. No. 82 Adil Shamasdin (Brown) ? 11 a.m. EDT