Oct. 21, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky men’s tennis freshman Maks Gold took down Taylor Tunis of IUPUI in the second round of qualifying 6-3, 6-4, advancing him to the singles main draw of the 2010 USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Indoor Championships at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex and the Lexington Tennis Club on Thursday.
Gold received a bye into the second round of the event and took full advantage, taking down Tunis in straight sets. With the win, the Louisville, Ky., native earned one of the 11 qualifying spots that was on the line Thursday and will play Friday in the singles main draw opening round against 11th-seeded Sander Gille of East Tennessee State at 5:30 p.m. at UK.
Gold also advanced to the doubles main draw with junior Matt Davis. Gold/Davis received a first-round bye before defeating Szymon Tatarcyzk/Billy Heuer of Purdue in the second round to grab one of the six qualifying spots for the doubles main draw. The duo will take on Rhyne Williams/Edward Jones of Tennessee on Friday at noon at UK.
Davis and Chris Leeper played in singles qualifying Thursday, with Davis advancing past his first-round match before falling in the second round. Davis defeated Riyad Bennoui of Wright State 6-0, 6-3 in the opening round, but fell 6-1, 6-0 in the second round to Oliver Streker of Lipscomb. Leeper dropped his opening-round match 6-1, 6-2 to eventual qualifier Shaun Bussert of Ball State.
On Friday, Kentucky will have several players in action at the tournament, which is being played on UK’s campus and at the Lexington Tennis Club. The action will start with doubles with No. 8 Eric Quigley/Brad Cox playing the qualifying doubles duo of Jan-Frans Englebrecht/Matt Manasse of Purdue at 11 a.m. at UK. Sophomore Anthony Rossi and junior Alex Musialek will also be in action Friday afternoon in doubles, squaring off in the first round of the doubles main draw against Dalton Albertin/Zane Smith of Ball State at 12:30 p.m. at LTC.
Including Gold, Kentucky will have six players in action in singles, including No. 8 Quigley and No. 32 Musialek. Quigley, the defending singles champion at the event and No. 2 seed in the tournament, will play his first-round match against Zane Smith of Ball State at 5:30 p.m. at LTC. Musialek, Rossi and Cox will also be in action at the LTC. Musialek, the No. 6 seed, will face Josh Girling of Tennessee Tech at 3 p.m., while Rossi, the No. 15 seed, will play Alex Chen of Tennessee Tech at the same time. Cox, the No. 13, will face Roberto Viera of UT-Chattanooga in the opening round at 4 p.m.
For complete coverage of the 2010 USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Indoor Championships go to UKathletics.com.
