Oct. 9, 2009
TULSA, Okla. –
In the second round of Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championships, Kentucky tennis sophomore Eric Quigley swept the final five games of his match against No. 27 Jordan Rux of Baylor to conclude a 6-3, 7-5 victory and advance to the round of 16 at the University of Tulsa’s Case Tennis Center.
The win over Rux gives Quigley three wins against ranked players in five matches at the Championships. The Pewee Valley, Ky., native defeated top-ranked Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State in a first round main draw match Thursday and previously defeated Duke’s No. 86 Ryan Arnould in the qualifying singles tourney Tuesday. Through five matches – including three qualifying contests – at the Championships this week, Quigley has defeated each opponent in straight sets and has only dropped an average of six games per contest or 30 games total.
Quigley, 8-1 this fall, duels Virginia’s No. 9 Sanam Singh in the round of 16 Saturday.
The Wildcat’s late rallies in both sets proved to be pivotal in the victory against Rux. Both players held serve through the first five games of the first set to put Quigley up 3-2. To close out the set Quigley took three of the final four games for the 6-3 win.
In the second set, the opponents again held serve through the first five games giving Rux a 3-2 lead. In game six, the Bear broke Quigley’s serve and then held to increase the lead to 5-2. Then Quigley caught fire on the court by sweeping the next five games that included two breaks of Rux to close out the match for the 7-5 win.
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 week to UKathletics.com for recaps of all Wildcat performances and the latest UK men’s tennis news.
October 9, 2009
Tulsa, Okla. (Case Tennis Center)
ITA All-American Championships
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
