Oct. 9, 2009
TULSA, Okla. –
Kentucky tennis sophomore Eric Quigley defeated his second top-10 opponent over two days in Friday’s nightcap singles match during the round of 16 at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championships with a decisive 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 9 Sanam Singh of Virginia at the University of Tulsa’s Case Tennis Center.
Quigley improved to 9-1 on the season with the win over Singh, a 2009 NCAA Men’s Singles Semifinalist. He will battle Oklahoma’s No. 40 Andrei Daescu in the quarterfinals Saturday. Daescu beat No. 25 Raony Carvalho of Texas Tech 6-1, 6-2 to advance. Live stats and video are available from the ITA through the link provided on UKathletics.com.
The Wildcat has defeated four ranked opponents in six matches this week, including two top-10 wins over No. 1 Oleksandr Nedevyesov and No. 9 Singh. Through six matches – including three qualifying contests – at the Championships, Quigley has defeated each opponent in straight sets and has dropped an average of less than six games per contest or 34 games total.
In the first set, No. 70 Quigley defended his serve while breaking Singh’s delivery multiple times for a 6-1 decision. The native of Pewee Valley, Ky., continued to impress the crowd in the second stanza doubling up the ninth-ranked Cavalier 6-3 to clinch the match.
“Eric has played extremely well,” said UK men’s tennis head coach Dennis Emery. “He has been about as solid as you could hope. Now he just needs to keep following up these great wins.”
The All-American Championship tournament is the first leg of the ITA Grand Slam. Quigley’s triumph marks the second consecutive Grand Slam that a Wildcat has advanced to the final eight. Last spring UK’s Bruno Agostinelli made a quarterfinal run at the NCAA Men’s Singles Championships to close his final season in the Blue and White.
Earlier in the day, Quigley and doubles partner Brad Cox won their second round match to advance to the quarterfinals of the doubles main draw. The No. 24 Wildcats dominated Erik Kreutzer and Thomas Nolan of Boston College 8-1 to move on.
The win sets up a rematch of Quigley and singles No. 1 Nedovyesov on the doubles court. The UK duo battles Nedovyesov and partner Aleksey Bessonov fresh off the Cowboy tandem’s upset of the top-seeded team from Georgia Friday.
Stay tuned all weekend to UKathletics.com for recaps of the ITA All-American Championships.
October 9, 2009
Tulsa, Okla. (Case Tennis Center)
ITA All-American Championships
Main Draw Singles – Third Round
#70 Eric Quigley (UK) def. #9 Sanam Singh (UVA) 6-1, 6-3
Main Draw Singles – Second Round
#70 Eric Quigley (UK) def. #27 Jordan Rux (BU) 6-3, 7-5
Main Draw Doubles – Second Round
#24 Eric Quigley (UK) / Brad Cox def. Erik Kreutzer / Thomas Nolan (BC) 8-1
