The Kentucky men’s tennis program’s history of success is rich, especially on the singles level.Former UK greats like Jesse Witten, Carlos Drada, Cedric Kauffmann and Rich Benson achieved enormous individual success during their time in Lexington. Witten, who many consider the best player in school history, advanced to the 2004 ITA National Indoor Singles championship and the 2002 NCAA Singles Championship finals, and Drada played in the 2000 NCAA Singles Championship finals.But current Kentucky men’s tennis star Eric Quigley is on track to outdo them all following his second consecutive USTA/ITA Regional Indoor Championships title, a 6-3 7-6 (5) win over the nation’s top-ranked player, John-Patrick Smith of Tennessee.”I think he played much better this year than he did last year,” men’s tennis head coach Dennis Emery said. “This time it’s a little sweeter. When you can beat the No. 1 guy in the country, not just the No. 1 guy in the region, it’s a big deal.”It’s the second time in Quigley’s two-plus years at UK he’s defeated the No. 1 player in the nation, which got this writer to thinking: Just how good is Quigley?Currently ranked No. 8 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, Quigley should move up following his victory over the country’s top-ranked player. Quigley no doubt wants to earn the nation’s No. 1 singles spot before he leaves college, and he should have a pretty good chance to do just that, but he also wants to leave his mark at UK.Quigley wants to become the best player to ever play for Kentucky. Just a couple of months into his junior season, it’s safe to say Quigley is well on his way.”It’s a long way off and he has another year and a half, but he is on track to do a lot of special things,” Emery said. “He continues to do some things ahead of some people in the past that have done great things here. He’s doing them at a younger age.”Outside an NCAA Championship finals appearance, there isn’t much that separates Quigley from the resumes of Witten and Drada. A four-time Kentucky state champion at the high-school level, Quigley already came to UK as one of the most talented players in the country.The only thing that eluded him at the time was a dominating serve, which Quigley now has based on Monday’s match. Smith never broke Quigley’s serve, and Emery said Quigley’s first-serve percentage was more than 70 percent.”Today is the best I’ve seen him serve,” Emery said. “His serve has continued to improve, and he understands that for him to play not only at the highest level in college but on the next level, his serve has to continue to improve. He’s improved not only the pop on the ball but the location on the ball as well.”In the pros, Emery said players in the top 100 almost always serve 125 miles per hour or faster. Those that don’t usually don’t make it. Making it to the ATP Tour is certainly on Quigley’s radar.”Guys in the top 100, every single guy, big or small or however they play, they have a big serve,” Quigley said. “Holding serve is probably the biggest thing in tennis. Your serve sets up the rest of your game and gives you opportunities and lets you relax a little bit in the return game. It’s just huge.”Quigley said he hit around 120 miles per hour when he came to UK, but the big serves came few and far between and were rarely consistent. By the time he hit the third set in tight matches, Quigley said his arm usually got tired and his speed significantly slowed.Although Monday’s match never reached the third set, there were some tense moments when Quigley needed a big serve, especially during the second-set tiebreaker when Quigley closed out the match. Quigley’s serves were just as fast at the end of the second set as they were in the first game.”Everything has gotten better about it – consistency, power-wise and placement,” Quigley said. “It just comes with practice. It’s not very exciting to practice, but it’s something you have to do and it really pays off, like today.”Practice and an even-keeled attitude are what make Quigley so special, Emery said. “He is without question the most self-motivating player we’ve ever had,” Emery said. “There are times when I come back over here at night and he’s in here hitting on his own, working on his serve. The one good thing about Eric is each time he goes to a different level, he hasn’t tapped out at those levels.”Building on the expectations of the most decorated high-school tennis career in Kentucky state history hasn’t seemed to faze Quigley in the slightest. He just keeps making it to championship after championship, advancing to all three finals in all three tournaments he’s played in this fall.”I think the one thing that sets Eric apart from a lot of the college players is he has a really high emotional intelligence,” Emery said. “He has a lot of composure and he understands competition. I think that’s what a lot of players struggle with, how to compete. Eric has that down cold.”Playing – and winning – in four straight high school state championships, leading a highly ranked UK team as the No. 1 singles player, and numerous finals appearances, including Monday’s title and October’s grand slam appearance at the beginning of the month, tends to have that effect on players. Quigley has been in big matches so many times before that nothing rattles him.”I think it just comes second nature to me,” Quigley said. “My trainer (Jay Melton) really worked on it with me in high school. He really got on me if I showed negative emotion and wanted me to show positive emotion all the time.”Quigley has always looked up to tennis legend Roger Federer because of his cool demeanor on the court, and his family has helped him develop a calm attitude.”I think about how when someone else shows negative emotion how it pumps me up,” Quigley said. “I don’t want to give that away to my opponents.”Emery said the structure of Quigley’s game is there for him to make it to the pros. There are still a few “nuances” Quigley has to hone, Emery said, but there is little doubt in Emery’s mind that he can go down as the program’s all-time great if he continues in the direction he’s headed. “Hopefully he can lead us to a national championship or a Final Four,” Emery said. “Those are the goals. We feel like we’re in a position to do that, and part of the reason we’re in that position is because we have a lot of confidence in him as a player and a competitor.”