INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. ? University of Kentucky men?s tennis player Bruno Agostinelli received doubly good news Wednesday evening as the NCAA released its selections for the individual singles and doubles championships scheduled for late May. Agostinelli was awarded an at-large selection in singles as well as in doubles with partner Brad Cox.
Both of the NCAA Individual Championships take place in Tulsa, Okla., May 22-26 after the NCAA Team Championships are complete. In singles, 64 men from around the country are selected while the doubles field contains 32 tandems. Sixteen men are seeded in the singles championships, while eight doubles pairs receive seeds. While the fields, seeds and alternates were released Wednesday evening, the draws for both tourneys won?t be announced until Championship Week in Tulsa.
Agostinelli is currently ranked in the top-25 in both singles and doubles. The junior stands at No. 20 in the singles poll. The All-SEC First Team member has a 22-13 record this season including 14 victories against ranked opponents at No. 1 singles. Agostinelli?s biggest victory this season is a win over then No. 2 player Steven Moneke of Ohio State at the All-American Championships held in Tulsa last fall.
The Niagara Falls, Canada, native battled other NCAA selections 20 times this season while recording an admirable 9-11 record. Six of the losses are against gentlemen that rank in the top-10 at the end of the season and earned NCAA seeds in Tulsa. During a six-match win streak in late March, Agostinelli defeated No. 9-16 seed Ivan Bjelica and four other NCAA field members.
Agostinelli and Cox rank 22nd in the nation in the latest doubles rankings. As a tandem, the Cats stand at 15-11 overall including an 8-4 ledger against the SEC.
The pair faced NCAA doubles team selections nine times this season posting a 3-6 record. All but one of those opponents is currently ranked in the top-20. The tandem ended their regular-season with a win over No. 5-8 seed and fourth-ranked Hensel and Smith of Tennessee on the road in Knoxville.
Last fall at the Wilson/ITA Southeast Regional, the two Wildcats took the court for the first time together against the seeded duo of Schnugg and Hunt from Georgia and surprised the Bulldogs to earn their first win. Later in the Regional quarterfinals, the Cats served up an upset of the then No. 5 pairing from Alabama of Thibadeau and Buikema 9-8 to advance to the semifinals. The NCAA?s third-seeded team from Miami of Sundberg and Vallverdu stopped Agostinelli and Cox?s incredible run in the semifinals.
Cox is just the second freshman in UK history to earn an NCAA individual championship bid. However, he is the first Wildcat rookie to make the NCAA doubles tournament. Former Kentucky All-American Jesse Witten advanced to the singles championships in his first year.
Agostinelli, Cox and their UK teammates travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to take part in the NCAA regional hosted by the University of Tennessee next weekend. Kentucky will play Virginia Tech in a first round match at 2:00 p.m. ET Sat. May 10 at the UT Varsity Courts.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for the latest Kentucky men?s tennis news.
