The No. 19 Kentucky men’s tennis team was nearly perfect in its opening matches Wednesday defeating both Austin Peay and Butler by the score of 6-1 at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center.
In the Cats (2-0, 0-0 SEC) opening match 6-1 victory over the Austin Peay, they received stand out efforts from four of their freshman. Playing in the No. 4 spot Gregory Anderson swept the Governors’ Patrick Puertolas 7-5, 6-2. At the No. 5 spot, Kenny Hodge handled Sean Hawk 6-2, 6-3. Rounding out the solid play was Western Kentucky transfer Kyle Virgin who soundly handled Doug Mitchem 6-2, 6-0.
Shane Collins and Hodge also teamed to play in the No. 1 doubles spot and turned back Andrew Naidu and Ankur Singla 8-4.
Against Butler, UK jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point and never looked back. The No. 40 senior duo of Nate Emge and Alex Hume won the team’s first doubles match over Andy Bartish and James Low 8-4. Freshmen Bruno Agostinelli and Anderson teamed together to clinch the point with a 8-6 victory over Tom Aker and Eric Brietenbach.
UK finished the night winning five of six singles matches. Three of the victories went to the tiebreaker, including Emge’s win over Bartish 6-4, 7-6 (5). The Cats also picked up wins from their two highest ranked players, Agostinelli and Hume, at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Agostinelli, the nation’s 48th-ranked player, defeated James Low 6-3, 6-4, while the No. 61 Hume swept Brandon Gill 6-1, 6-2.
Kentucky will return to action on Sunday when they face No. 15 Ohio State. The Buckeyes have four wins on the year, including victories over 16th-ranked Tennessee and No. 46 Oklahoma. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EST at the Lexington Tennis Club.
No. 19 Kentucky def. Austin Peay 6-1
Doubles
1. Collins/Hodge (UK) def. Singua/Naidu (AP) -8-4
2. de Brito/Mitchem (AP) def. Rubin/Virgin (UK) – 8-5
3. AP def. UK
Singles
1. Greg Johnstone (UK) def. Ankur Singla (AP) – 7-5, 6-2
2. Marcus Sundh (UK) def. Andrew Naidu (AP) – 6-0, 6-1
3. Carey Rubin (UK) def. Lucas de Brito (AP) – 6-1, 6-0
4. Gregory Anderson (UK) def. Patrick Puertolas (AP) – 7-5, 6-2
5. Kenny Hodge (UK) def. Sean Hawk (AP) – 6-2, 6-3
6. Kyle Virgin (UK) def. Doug Mitchem (AP) – 6-2, 6-0
Kentucky def. Butler 6-1
Doubles
1. Gill/Ross (BU) def. Johnstone/Sundh (UK) 8-6
2. Hume/Emge (UK) def. Bartish/Low (BU) – 8-4
3. Anderson/Agostinelli (UK) def. Aker/Breintenbach (BU) – 8-6
Singles
1. Alex Hume (UK) def. Brandon Gill (BU) – 6-2, 6-1
2. Bruno Agostinelli (UK) def. James Low (BU) – 6-3, 6-4
3. Nate Emge (UK) def. Andy Bartish 6-4, 7-6 (5)
4. Parker Ross (BU) def. Gregory Anderson (UK) def. 6-3, 6-2
5. Shane Collins (UK) def. Scott Newmark (BU) – 6-3, 4-6 (4)
6. Kenny Hodge (UK) def. Evan West (BU) – 7-5, 2-6 (6)
