Kentucky senior Alex Hume won his opening round match of the singles qualifying tournament Monday at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships in Tulsa, Okla.

Hume, the 68th-ranked player in the nation, defeated Tulsa?s Ross Cunningham in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, to advance to the round of 64. Hume will face No. 95 Federico Ueltschi, of Montana, for the right to move on to the round of 32.

Fellow senior Nate Emge, the 94th-ranked player in the nation, dropped his opening round match to California?s Tyler Browne. Emge took the first set 4-6, before dropping the next two 6-2, 6-1. Emge will return to the courts tomorrow when he teams with Hume in the first round of doubles competition.

The Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships offers the first chance to claim a national singles and doubles title in the 2005-06 collegiate season. The qualifying tournament consisting of 128 singles players and 64 doubles teams will feed into the main draw competition which is scheduled to begin Oct. 6.

Fans can check ukathletics.com for a link to live scoring and daily recaps throughout the tournament.

Monday, Oct. 3 ? Singles (First Day)

Alex Hume (UK) def. Ross Cunningham (Tulsa) ? 6-3, 6-3
Tyler Browne (Cal) def. Nate Emge (UK) ? 4-6, 6-2, 6-1