Former Kentucky All-American Jesse Witten will begin play in the $600,000 RCA Championships Tuesday evening in Indianapolis after taking advantage of a ?lucky loser? berth to enter the tournament field.

Witten will open the tournament against Andy Murray, an 18-year old from Scotland who became the fan favorite at Wimbledon last month after winning his first two matches. The 164th-ranked Murray defeated the world?s 15th-ranked player, Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, before being ousted in five sets by Argentina?s David Nalbandian in the third round.

A five-time All-American (four singles, one doubles) at Kentucky, Witten defeated a familiar opponent, Florida?s Greg Ouellette, in the RCA singles qualifier before setting aside Stephen Huss of Australia in the second round. One last qualifier victory would have sent Witten to the main draw, but Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei eliminated Witten in the final round. However, Brazil?s Flavio Saretta withdrew from the tournament this afternoon, opening a spot for the 401st-ranked Witten in the main draw.

Witten?s match is set to begin at approximately 7 p.m. EDT, though the start time may be pushed back should the day?s afternoon matches go long. Complete tournament results may be found at atptennis.com and rcatennis.com.

Witten ended his Wildcat career in May after posting a quarterfinal finish at the NCAA Singles Championships. The 2005 SEC Men?s Tennis Player of the Year became one of only 11 four-time men?s singles All-Americans in the history of college tennis.