July 22, 2009
LEXINGTON Ky. – Former Wildcat Bruno Agostinelli defeated sixth-seeded Carsten Ball of Australia 6-4, 6-2 Tuesday night to advance to the second round of the Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships held at the Boone Tennis Complex.
The straight-sets win advances Agostinelli to the second round of the Lexington Challenger. There he will face American qualifier Tim Smyczek in a match scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Boone.
Smyczek is ranked No. 379 in the world in the latest Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings released Monday. Smyczek, a Milwaukee, Wis., native, made a run to the final at the Winnetka (Ill.) Challenger last month after winning two qualifying matches and four main draw contests for his best result this season.
Agostinelli was awarded a wild card for the local event. For his first-round match he was pitted against Ball – ranked No. 207 in the world. Ball had reached two singles finals this season on the futures circuit and won three doubles titles in 2009.
Ball could not find any answers for Agostinelli after the former UK captain broke the Australian for a 3-2 lead in the first set. The lone break of the set gave Agostinelli the first set win at 6-4. In the second, Agostinelli broke Ball again in game three to take a 2-1 advantage and never looked back adding two more service breaks en route to a 6-3 victory.
The former UK captain’s victory marked his second career singles main draw tour win after making his professional tour debut last month in California.
Agostinelli earned his first tour point in the Golden State. He defeated three opponents in straight sets at the USA F14 Futures Qualifying Draw in Chico, Calif., to advance to the main draw of 32. In a first-round match, the Niagara Falls, Canada, native knocked off Luis-Manuel Flores of Mexico 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2. In the round of 16, Agostinelli took the first set from Gastao Elias of Portugal 6-1 but surrendered the second set 7-5 before retiring in the third set down 3-0. He earned one point for advancing to the round of 16 in his pro debut.
Agostinelli turned pro this summer after a storied collegiate career in the Blue and White.
In May, Agostinelli became the 15th Wildcat in school history to earn All-America honors after advancing to the NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship quarterfinals. His first-team All-America honor is the first for any Wildcat since 2005. The 2009 senior captain was also named the Southeast Region Senior Player of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) after climbing to No. 2 in the ITA singles rankings.
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