Oct. 25, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team fell points short in its attempt at sweeping both the singles and doubles finals Monday when junior Eric Quigley and senior Brad Cox lost to Austen Childs and Viktor Maksimcuk 8-3 in the doubles finals of the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships.
“Louisville played very well today, especially at the beginning of the match,” Kentucky head coach Dennis Emery said. “They got off to a great start and really grabbed the momentum and rode it throughout the match. I thought that Maksimcuk played excellent. You expect Childs, who was a NCAA singles finalist last year to play well, but when Maksimcuk is playing well it is tough to compete with them.”
Childs/Maksimcuk, the No. 3 seed, jumped out to a big start against Quigley/Cox, the No. 1 seed, taking complete command of the match with a 3-0 lead. Kentucky would respond, holding serve to stay in the match before the Louisville tandem broke again and finally took the match 8-3. Childs/Maksimcuk are ranked No. 45 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason doubles poll, while Quigley/Cox are eighth.
The victory advances Childs and Maksimcuk to the 2010 USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, taking place Nov. 4-7, at the new indoor facilities at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, located in Flushing, New York. Columbia University will serve as the tournament host.
Last year, Quigley and Cox had an impressive season in doubles, gathering a 16-9 dual-match record and advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships, giving both players All-America status. Cox is the first UK player in school history to play in the NCAA Doubles Championship his first three seasons.
“Louisville really played great today, but our guys had a great tournament and should keep their heads high,” Emery said. “Hopefully, the loss will just make our guys work harder on the things that they need to work on. I am really happy with our showing in this tournament.”
Earlier Monday, Quigley won the singles title over ITA No. 1 John-Patrick Smith of Tennessee 6-3, 7-6 (5), claiming his second straight singles title at the event. The win marks the second time in his career that Quigley has defeated the No. 1-ranked player in the country. Last year, Quigley took down the top-ranked Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State, in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships. This is the first time in three chances that Quigley has defeated Smith.
The doubles final wraps up a successful tournament for Kentucky. In all, the Wildcats advanced two singles players, Quigley and fellow junior Alex Musialek, to the quarterfinals of the singles main draw and two doubles tandems, Quigley/Cox and Musialek and sophomore Anthony Rossi, to the doubles quarterfinals. Kentucky was the only school at the event to be represented in both finals.
