Kentucky men?s tennis senior Alex Hume collected two more victories on Saturday to reach the semifinals of the Flight A Singles bracket at the Virginia Fall Invitational in Charlottesville, Va. Freshmen Bruno Agostinelli and Marcus Sundh, as well as senior Carey Rubin, also had successful days by reaching the semifinals of their respective consolation brackets.
The 68th-ranked Hume, who had won four consecutive matches coming into today, notched two more victories to set up a semifinal matchup against Luigi D?Agord of Miami, Fla. In the morning, Hume defeated Virginia?s Rylan Rizza 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals. Hume continued his strong play by beating Tim Krebs, of Miami, Fla., 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Freshman Agostinelli rebounded from a second round loss on Friday, to advance to the semifinals of the Singles A1 Backdraw. Agostinelli loss the first set in his match Saturday against Memphis? James Spence 5-7, but rallied to win the next two sets, 6-2, 10-7, to win the match. In his following match, Agostinelli defeated William & Mary?s Alex Cojanu in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, to advance to Sunday?s play.
In the Singles B1 Backdraw, senior Rubin also notched two victories to reach the semifinals. In his first match of the day, Rubin rebounded from a 2-6 opening set loss to win the next two sets 6-3, 10-3, against William & Mary?s Matt Rubenstein. In his next match, Rubin defeated Liberty?s Pritt Pihl in straight sets 6-3, 6-0, to advance to Sunday?s action.
Rounding out the Wildcats strong showing was freshman Sundh. Sundh had a first round bye in the Singles B2 Backdraw and defeated Middle Tennessee?s Rishan Kuruppu in straight sets 6-2, 7-6, to reach the semifinals.
Senior Nate Emge, the 94th- ranked player in the country, saw his run through the tournament end when he exited in the third round following a straight set loss to Virginia?s Somdev Devvarman.
Freshmen Shane Collins and Kenny Hodge ended their tournament runs with a pair of opening round losses in the backdraw. Collins lost to American?s Sebastian Proisy in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, while Hodge fell to North Carolina State?s Andre Iriate 6-3, 6-0.
Saturday also marked the first day of doubles competition, where all three Kentucky teams were eliminated. The duo of Sundh and Hume fell to Brandon Allen and Kai Scheldorn of Middle Tennessee 8-5. UK?s other two duos, Agostinelli and Emge, as well as Collins and Hodge, lost by default.
The tournament will conclude Sunday and fans can check ukathletics.com for complete recaps of the day?s action.
2005 University of Virginia Fall Invitational (Charlottesville, Va.)
Singles Third Round ? Saturday, Sept. 24
Alex Hume (UK) def. Rylan Rizza (Virginia) – 6-4, 6-2
Somdev Devvarman (Virginia) def. Nate Emge (UK) – 6-0, 6-1
Singles Quarterfinals ? Saturday, Sept. 24
Alex Hume (UK) def. Tim Krebs (Miami, Fla.) – 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
Singles Backdraw ? Saturday, Sept. 24
Brono Agostinelli (UK) def. James Spence (Memphis) – 5-7, 6-2, 10-7
Bruno Agostinelli (UK) def. Alex Cojanu (William and Mary) – 6-4, 6-3
Carey Rubin (UK) def. Matt Rubenstein (William and Mary) – 2-6, 6-3, 10-3
Carey Rubin (UK) def. Pritt Pihl (Liberty) – 6-3, 6-0
Marcus Sundh (UK) def. Rishan Kuruppu (Middle Tennessee State) – 6-2, 7-6
Sebastian Proisy (Amer.) def. Shane Collins (UK) ? 6-2, 6-1
Andre Iriate (NCSU) def. Kenny Hodge (UK) ? 6-3, 6-0
Doubles First Round? Saturday, Sept. 24
Allan/Schledorn (Middle Tennessee State) def. Sundh/Hume (UK) – 8-5
Chiu/Clayton (Harvard) def. Agostinelli/Emge (UK) – Default
Doubles Quarterfinals ? Saturday, Sept. 24
Pihl/Pena def. Collins/Hodge (UK) – Default
