LEXINGTON, Ky. ? University of Kentucky men?s tennis player Alberto Gonzalez will represent his home country of Panama in Davis Cup competition this week. The rising sophomore will play at the number one slot in both singles and doubles at the Country Club in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, starting Monday.

Gonzalez completed his rookie campaign for the Blue and White playing primarily at the No. 5 singles position while compiling a 14-11 record overall. Gonzalez also played with classmate Will Beck in pre-season doubles tournaments last season, posting a 1-2 mark.

This will not be the first time Gonzalez has played in Davis Cup competition for his homeland. He first played for his national team at the age of 15. Prior to his days as a Wildcat, Gonzalez played under the Panamanian flag in international contests all over the Americas while attaining a No. 1 ranking in the country. He was also named the country?s player of the year in 2002.

The team from Panama will join seven nations on the hard courts from the Americas Zone Group III which covers the North America and South America continents. The eight teams are divided into two pools of four. The top two nations from each pool advance to a further round-robin of four, from which the teams finishing first and second are promoted to Americas Zone Group II in 2009. Other nations competing include Aruba, Barbados, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

Fans can follow the action by logging onto DavisCup.com and clicking on the Zonal Action link. Scores will be posted the following morning after each day of competition.

Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for further men?s tennis updates.