Oct. 7, 2008
TULSA, Okla. – University of Kentucky men’s tennis players, Eric Quigley and Brad Cox, competed in the singles qualifying tournament at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Championships hosted by the University of Tulsa at the Case Center, Monday and Tuesday.
Quigley, a freshman, advanced to the qualifying tourney after advancing three rounds in the pre-qualifying tournament over the weekend. In the pre-qualifier, Quigley surrendered just nine games in two matches.
In the qualifying tourney’s first-round match Monday, Quigley battled the first ranked opponent of his collegiate career in No. 87 Jay Goldman of Arizona. Quigley played a tight match with Goldman through two sets but came up short in the end, 6-4, 6-4. On Tuesday, Quigley served against another ranked opponent in the consolation draw. This time it was Quigley who earned his first win over a ranked opponent with a 6-3, 6-1 decision over No. 60 Amit Inbar of UCLA.
“This tournament has been a great start for Eric’s collegiate tennis career at Kentucky,” Head Coach Dennis Emery said. “In the pre-qualifying rounds he beat a guy who played No. 1 for Indiana last year in Eilers. Then he turned around and played two ranked opponents in qualifying and beat the No. 60 player in the country from UCLA. These matches should give him confidence going into the spring season.”
Sophomore Brad Cox was also in action this week in Tulsa. Cox faced Stanford’s Bradley Klahn in the first round of the qualifier. Klahn a tough left-hander who was ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation as a junior edged Cox 6-4, 6-4 in their first-round match on Monday. In a Tuesday consolation match, Cox played Tejevsi Veerepalli of Fresno State. Veerepalli edged Cox in a tight first set 7-6. In the second set, Veerepalli used an extra service break for the 6-4 win.
UK senior Bruno Agostinelli will play later this week in the singles main draw. He is ranked 19th in the ITA pre-season top-125 singles rankings.
Agostinelli and doubles partner Cox will also open play in a few days as part of the doubles main draw. The duo stands 15th nationally in the ITA pre-season top 50 doubles rankings. The pair kicked off 2008 in fine fashion winning the Southern Intercollegiate Doubles Championship last month.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for recaps of all Wildcat performances
