Sept. 18, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky men’s tennis junior Anthony Rossi completed his first tournament of the 2011 fall season by taking down Duke’s Luke Marchese in straight sets to claim the singles title at the 2011 Duke Fab Four Invitational on Saturday in Cary, N.C.
Rossi, who is ranked No. 95 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, had an impressive run to the tournament title. The native of Marseille, France, earned arguably the best singles win of his career in the semifinals on Saturday when he took down Duke’s top-ranked player and No. 4-ranked Henrique Cunha in a thrilling three-set win. Rossi wrapped up the tournament with a dominating 6-3, 6-3 win over Marchese to claim the tournament title.
Rossi has been a key part to Kentucky’s success the since arriving on campus, helping the Wildcats set a school record for wins the past two season, including 29 wins last season. Last year, Rossi posted a 27-10 record, including a 20-6 mark in dual matches and an impressive 10-1 record in Southeastern Conference play. The junior has a career record of 49-20 in his two years at Kentucky, helping clinch some key victories for UK. Last year, Rossi was a stopper for the Wildcats in the middle of the lineup as the Frenchman never lost consecutive matches throughout the season.
“Anthony has been a very good player for us the past two seasons and I think that we are really starting to see his maturity and player development come together,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “Defeating a top-four player in the nation will definitely give him confidence, not only for the rest of the fall season, but for the spring season as well. I am very pleased with his start to the season.”
The Wildcats did well at the Duke Fab Four Invite overall, getting singles wins from sophomores Panav Jha and Grant Roberts. Kentucky also performed well in doubles, with Rossi and Jha earning a doubles win and Roberts and sophomore Maks Gold also posting a doubles victory at the event.
Kentucky sent four players to compete in the Olympia Fields Invitational in Chicago, Ill., over the weekend in senior No. 20 Alex Musialek and sophomores Tom Jomby, Alejandro Gomez and Ryuji Hirooka.
Gomez led UK by going 4-0 at the event, earning wins over key players from Illinois, Texas and Notre Dame, who each finished the 2011 spring season ranked in the top 31 of the ITA team rankings. Gomez ended the tournament with a 7-6(7), 6-4 win over Greg Andrews of Notre Dame to seal the undefeated weekend.
Musialek also grabbed a win on Sunday, defeating No. 45 Nick Andrews of California. Musialek took the opening set in a tiebreaker 7-6(3) but fell in the second set 2-6. The senior would respond in the third set by playing hard to complete the three-set win 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-4. The native of Dax, France, played well at the event, taking down two ranked players with his only loss coming to No. 7 Dennis Nevolo of Illinois.
Nevolo defeated UK sophomore Tom Jomby in what was essentially the finals of the event on Sunday 6-3, 6-2. Jomby went 3-1 at the tournament, taking down one ranked player in No. 28 Casey Watt on Notre Dame, which was Jomby’s first career win over a ranked foe at the collegiate level.
Kentucky will be back in action on Sept. 23 when they travel to Athens, Ga., for the Southern Intercollegiate. Fall tournaments are for individual results only. No team results are kept.
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team visit UKathletics.com.
Sunday, Sept. 18 Results
Duke Fab Four Invite
Singles
No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Luke Marchese (Duke) 6-3, 6-3
Hunter Koontz (Va. Tech) def. Maks Gold (UK) 6-2, 6-4
Olympia Fields Invitational
Singles
#7 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) def. Tom Jomby (UK), 6-3, 6-2
Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Greg Andrews (ND), 7-6(7), 6-4
#20 Alex Musialek (UK) def. #45 Nick Andrews (CAL), 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-4
Previous Results
Olympia Fields Invitational
Singles
No. 20 Alex Musialek (UK) def. Stephen Hoh (ILL), 6-4, 6-1
Tom Jomby (UK) def. No. 28 Casey Watt (ND), 6-2, 6-0
Stuart Kenyon (BAMA) def. Ryuji Hirooka (UK), 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-3
Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Tim Kopinski (ILL), 6-4, 6-3
Wyatt McCoy (ND) def. Ryuji Hirooka (UK), 6-3, 6-1
Tom Jomby (UK) def. Daniil Proskura (BAMA), 6-2, 6-1
No. 7 Dennis Nevolo (ILL) def. No. 20 Alex Musialek (UK), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Bruno Abdelnour (ILL), 6-1, 6-0
Tom Jomby (UK) def. Billy Pecor (ND), 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
#20 Alex Musialek (UK) def. #113 Ben Chen (UT), 6-2, 6-2
Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Chris Camillone (UT), 7-5, 6-0
Niall Fitzgerald (ND) def. Ryuji Hirooka (UK), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
Alex Musialek/Tom Jomby (UK) def. Casey Watt/Greg Andrews (ND), 8-4
Alex Musialek/Tom Jomby (UK) def. No. 21 Spencer Talmadge/Niall Fitzgerald (ND), 8-1
Alejandro Gomez/Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Sudanwa Sitaram/Ben Chen (UT), 8-1
David Holiner/Chris Camillone (UT) def. Alejandro Gomez/Ryuji Hirooka (UK), 8-5
Duke Fab Four Invite
Singles
No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Nick Jones (USC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. No. 4 Henrique Cunha (Duke) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
No. 116 Jarryd Botha (Alabama) def. Grant Roberts (UK) 6-1, 6-3
Cameron Ahari (UNC) def. Maks Gold (UK) 7-5, 6-4
Carlos Arboleda (Elon) def. Maks Gold (UK) 6-1, 6-4
Michael Thompson (Alabama) def. Panav Jha (UK) 2-6, 6-2, 12-10
Panav Jha (UK) def. Patrick O’Keefe (Radford) 6-2, 6-3
No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Sean Weber (NCST) 6-4, 6-2
Grant Roberts (UK) def. Thomas Dehaen (Radford) 6-3, 6-2
Jason Tahir (Duke) def. Maks Gold (UK) 6-2, 6-2
Austin Powell (NCST) def. Panav Jha (UK) 6-2, 0-6, 6-3
Doubles
Rossi/Jha (UK) def. Whiteford/Guthrie (W&M) 8-3
Burkhardt/Steiro (UNC) def. Rossi/Jha (UK) 8-6
Roberts/Gold (UK) def. Meulemans/O’Keefe (Radford) 8-6
Saba/Hemmeler (Duke) def. Roberts/Gold (UK) 8-6
