March 29, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. –
With the score tied 3-3, the match came down to Kentucky men’s tennis captain Bruno Agostinelli’s match on court one against Auburn’s Tim Puetz. Fifth-ranked Agostinelli came back from a 4-1 deficit in the second to pull out the set 7-6 in a tiebreaker to give the No. 13 Wildcats their first conference road win of the year, 4-3, over the No. 22 Tigers Sunday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Agostinelli used a late service break against No. 106 Puetz in set one for a 6-4 decision. In the second, the Tiger won the first three games to take the early advantage, but Agostinelli won four of the next five to knot the score up at 4-4. The foes split the next four games, forcing a tiebreaker which Agostinelli won to take the match and earn the Cats the 4-3 victory.
“Bruno played great in the clinching match,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “The guy he played was 13-2 coming into the match and was a tough out at home. This is a big win for us to get to 3-3 in the conference and should help us with our NCAA seeding later this year.”
With the win, UK (13-5, 3-3 SEC) evened its record in the Southeastern Conference and surpassed its win total of last season with seven regular-season matches still remaining.
Kentucky gained a crucial advantage by winning the doubles point to begin the day.
The Wildcat tandem of freshmen Graeme Dyce and Eric Quigley cruised to an 8-3 victory over Auburn’s Lukas Marsoun and Alex Stamchev on court two. Sophomore Alberto Gonzalez and freshman Alex Musialek clinched the point on court three with an 8-5 win against AU’s Milan Krnjetin and Michel Monteiro. The No. 22 team of Agostinelli and sophomore Brad Cox made it a clean sweep by winning a seven-all tiebreak against the Tigers’ No. 10 pairing of Alexey Tsyrenov and Tim Puetz, 8-7.
“Dyce and Quigley played their best match of the year today at No. 2.” Emery said. “The team they played was 13-3 this year coming into the match. Winning the doubles point was the key to the match today. This is a big match win for us on the road.”
With a 1-0 lead, UK’s No. 111 Quigley extended the Cats lead with a straight-set victory over Marsoun 6-3, 6-2. The win marked his eleventh-straight singles victory this season all at the No. 3 slot.
Gonzalez increased UK’s lead to 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Alex Petropoulos on court six. The Wildcat won five of the last six games of the second to secure the win.
Auburn (10-6, 3-3) then made a furious comeback with three straight singles wins to tie the team score at 3-3.
No. 44 Tsyrenov started off the Tigers’ rally with a hard-fought win on court two. Tsyrenov won the final three games of set one to take the first set 7-5 over Cox. The Tiger took a 4-2 lead in the second and held on for a 6-3 decision to give AU its first team point.
AU’s Alex Stamchev took the first set over Musialek 6-2 on court four. The Wildcat regrouped in the second, winning three straight games late to force a tiebreak but Stamchev held on for the 7-6 win; cutting UK’s team lead to 3-2.
Court five was the only singles match to go the distance. Auburn’s Krnjetin won the first set 6-3 over Dyce. The UK freshman came back to win the second convincingly 6-1 to set up the deciding set. Krnjetin bounced back in the third to win the first five games en route to the 6-1 victory. Krnjetin’s win knotted the team score at 3-3 setting up the battle for the match on court one.
The Wildcats have a quick turnaround as they return home to host the No. 6 Ohio State for a 3:00 p.m. ET match Wednesday at the Boone Tennis Center.
Please visit UKathletics.com for all of the latest Kentucky men’s tennis news.
Mar. 29, 2009
Auburn, Ala. (Yarbrough Tennis Center)
#13 Kentucky 4, #22 Auburn 3
Singles
1. #5 Bruno Agostinelli (UK) def. #106 Tim Puetz (AU) 6-4, 7-6(2)
2. #44 Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) def. Brad Cox (UK) 7-5, 6-3
3. #111 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Lukas Marsoun (AU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Alex Stamchev (AU) def. Alex Musialek (UK) 6-2, 7-6(3)
5. Milan Krnjetin (AU) def. Graeme Dyce (UK) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
6. Alberto Gonzalez (UK) def. Alex Petropoulos (AU) 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 6, 2, 4, 5, 1*
Doubles
1. #22 Bruno Agostinelli / Brad Cox (UK) def. #10 Alexey Tsyrenov / Tim Puetz (AU) 8-7(3)
2. Graeme Dyce / Eric Quigley (UK) def. Lukas Marsoun / Alex Stamchev (AU) 8-3
3. Alberto Gonzalez / Alex Musialek (UK) def. Milan Krnjetin / Michel Monteiro (AU) 8-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
