Sept. 21, 2008
ATHENS, Ga. –
Bruno Agostinelli has a chance to be a two-time tennis champion at the first tournament of the fall season on Monday. The University of Kentucky senior captain will play in both the singles and doubles final at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships hosted by the University of Georgia, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens Ga.
Agostinelli, the No. 2 seed, will face No. 4 seed Enrique Olivares of East Tennessee State, ranked 31st in the nation, in the singles final at 9 a.m. Monday. After the completion of the doubles semifinal match between Duke and East Tennessee State, Agostinelli and doubles partner Brad Cox will battle the winner in the doubles championship.
Agostinelli had a full day of pressure tennis on Sunday. The Niagara Falls, N.Y., native started the day by cruising past No. 9 seed Javier Garrapiz of Georgia, ranked 71st nationally, 6-2; 6-3 to advance to the semifinals later in the day.
After his morning victory, Agostinelli took the court with sophomore Cox against a duo from Georgia Tech in the doubles quarterfinals. The Wildcat duo convincingly beat the Yellow Jacket tandem of Kevin King and Guillermo Gomez, 8-3 to advance to the semifinals.
The UK pairing is the top seed overall in the division I doubles bracket and rank 15th nationally in the ITA pre-season top 50 doubles rankings. Amazingly through three matches the Blue and White team has only dropped five games, outscoring opponents by 19 games (24-5).
Later in the day, Agostinelli completed a magnificent 24 hours of tennis by defeating Gomez of Georgia Tech, ranked 33rd in the country, this time in the singles semifinals 6-2 and 6-4. Agostinelli who ranks 19th nationally in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) pre-season top-125 singles rankings has breezed past three ranked opponents while only dropping one set on his way to the singles championship.
Agostinelli did catch a break late Sunday when doubles semifinal opponents Lucas Jovita and Thomas Estrada of South Florida pulled out of Monday’s morning match. As a result, the UK veteran can focus on his two finals instead of playing three matches again for a second straight day.
Georgia’s Southern Intercollegiate Championships is entering its 41st year as the South’s oldest recurring tournament. The Championships are comprised of three singles divisions and two doubles divisions. The top two singles divisions play a 64-man draw, while the third division features a 60-man bracket. This year the tourney features 179 players from 32 schools. Play runs throughout this weekend in all of the draws with the finals contested on Monday.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for recaps of the Monday finals.
