July 6, 2010
PANAMA CITY, Panama — Alberto Gonzalez, a junior on the 2009-10 University of Kentucky men’s tennis team, helped his native country of Panama finish third in the Davis Cup Americas Group IV Round Robin, gathering a 6-1 overall record in singles and doubles at the Centro Fred Madur last week.
Panama finished 2-2 at the event with wins over US Virgin Islands and Trinidad and Tobago while Gonzalez went a perfect 4-0 in singles and a strong 2-1 in doubles. Gonzalez, who went to high school in Bradenton, Fla., helped Panama secure its first win of the event over the US Virgin Islands, winning his singles match over Nicholas Bass 6-1, 6-1 and then teaming up with Juan Miguel Gonzalez to defeat Kristepher Elien and Terrance Eugene Highfield in doubles 6-4, 7-5 for the 2-1 victory.
Gonzalez also won two points for Panama in its second win of the event when he defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2-1. The UK star won the teams first point in singles play when he defeated Joseph Cadogan 6-3, 7-6 (6) and then clinched the match with teammate Juan Miguel Gonzalez in doubles with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Liam Gomez and Dawoud Kabli. Gonzalez’s other two wins, a 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory over Jose Moncada of Honduras and a 6-4, 6-1 win over Anthony Marshall of Barbados, came in Panama’s two losses.
Panama finished third overall behind Barbados and Honduras, who were promoted to Americas Zone Group III in 2011 with their top-two finishes.
Gonzalez is fresh off helping UK finish one of the best seasons in school history, gathering a school-record 25 wins on its way to an appearance in the NCAA Championships Round of 16. Gonzalez concluded the season tied for the best dual-match record on the team with a 21-6 record, including an 8-3 record in SEC play. The native of Panama finished the season with the third-most wins on the team at 26-11 overall.
The 2010-11 senior teamed up with Alex Lambropoulos throughout the season at the No. 2 doubles position where the tandem went 12-12 overall and finished the season at No. 68 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. In singles, Gonzalez hit as high as No. 125 in the rankings and has a career record at UK of 56-38.
The UK tennis player posted several clutch performances for UK throughout the season but none more important than the match-clinching point against then-No. 2 Virginia. With the match tied at 3-3, Gonzalez battled in a tightly contested second set to post a 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) victory over then-No. 28 Lee Singer to give Kentucky one of its biggest wins in school history.
Stay tuned to UKAthletics.com for more information at the UK men’s tennis team all summer long.
