TULSA, Okla. ? University of Kentucky men?s tennis player Bruno Agostinelli found out he will play across the net from an opponent he has faced for some of his biggest career wins when the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship draws were announced Tuesday from the Michael D. Case Tennis Center host facility in Tulsa, Okla.
Ohio State?s Steven Moneke will be Agostinelli?s first-round opponent in the Singles Championship with first serve scheduled Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET. The name Moneke may sound familiar to Blue and White fans because the Buckeye is the former top-ranked player Agostinelli defeated during the 2007 campaign 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, during a regular-season match in Columbus.
Ironically, the opponents have met once in Tulsa already this season at the Polo All-American Championships last October in a first-round consolation match when Moneke was ranked No. 2 in the nation. Agostinelli won the rematch 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. The familiar foes were scheduled to meet again during the regular season in early February but a winter storm kept Ohio State from traveling to Lexington and the match was later canceled.
If that was not enough coincidence, Agostinelli and partner Brad Cox will face Moneke and his Ohio State teammate Bryan Koniecko in the first round of the Doubles Championship scheduled for Thursday at a time to be announced later.
Moneke, a junior from Germany, currently ranks No. 32 in the latest singles poll and is 45-7 this season at No. 1 singles for the Buckeyes. Last season, debuting in his first NCAA singles championships, Moneke advanced to the quarterfinals but lost to eventual finalist John Isner of Georgia 6-3, 6-2.
Should Agostinelli advance in singles, he would face an opponent he has already defeated this season in the second round on Thursday. The junior defeated No. 9-16 seed Ivan Bjelica of Mississippi State 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Mar. 28 in Lexington. Bjelica?s first-round opponent is Virginia?s Treat Huey whom Agostinelli defeated on Feb. 8 in Charlottesville, Va., 3-6, 6-4, 1-0(7).
Agostinelli is in the lower half section of the draw with potential Round of 16 opponent and No. 5 seed Daniel Vallverdu of Miami as well as No. 2 seed Greg Ouellette of Florida, a potential quarterfinal opponent. Agostinelli is familiar with both seeds battling Vallverdu twice and Ouellette once this season.
The Wildcat is currently ranked in the top-25 in both singles and doubles. Agostinelli currently 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.
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 Bjelica and four other NCAA field members.
Ohio State?s Moneke and Koniecko are ranked 10th nationally. The Buckeyes are making their first appearance in the NCAA Doubles Championships. The two juniors are 32-4 overall this season. The Buckeye duo?s 20-match win streak was snapped earlier this week against the No. 9 pair of Kellen Damico and Ed Corrie of Texas in the NCAA Team quarterfinals.
Should the Cats advance in the doubles bracket, the pair would face the No. 5-8 seeded Wake Forest tandem of Cory Parr and Steve Forman or the Texas Tech duo of Christian Rojman and Bojan Szumanski. Agostinelli and Cox are in the lower half of the doubles draw with a No. 3 team from Miami and a No. 2 USC squad.
Agostinelli and Cox rank 22nd in the nation in the latest doubles rankings. As a tandem, the Cats stand at 16-11 overall including an 8-4 ledger against the SEC.
Cox is just the second freshman in UK history to earn an NCAA individual championship bid. Moreover, he is the first Wildcat rookie to participate in the NCAA Doubles Championships. Former Kentucky All-American Jesse Witten advanced to the Singles Championships in his first year.
The UK 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 quarterfinals, the Cats served up a 9-8 upset of the then No. 5 pairing from Alabama of Thibadeau and Buikema to advance to the semifinals. The NCAA?s third-seeded team from Miami of Carl Sundberg and Vallverdu, a potential NCAA quarterfinal opponent, stopped Agostinelli and Cox?s incredible run in the Regional semifinals.
Live updates of the 2008 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., will be available at www.tulsahurricane.com or the UK men?s tennis schedule page.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for a recap of each Wildcat match from the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships.
