Sept. 9, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky men’s tennis alumnus Alex Musialek and Tom Jomby are having unprecedented success at the world’s top level of tennis, as UK Tennis continues to send players from the NCAA ranks into the professionals, as Musialek has won three titles, and Jomby continues to push towards finals in multiple international destinations.
With all of the recent success, Musialek has gained 46 ATP points in singles competition, while also collecting 18 doubles points. Ranked No. 378 currently in the ATP rankings, that ranking does not account for his most recent win, and he is expected to vault into the top 340 of the ranking at the next release.
Jomby, the Nantes, France, native and 2013 UK graduate won his first five matches of the week and also won the doubles competition in the Turkey hard court event. In the last two weeks, the two-time NCAA All-American has won eight matches, while only dropping one.
“Alex is hitting his stride and it’s exciting for us to see,” UK head coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “His goal of getting to the qualifiers of the Australian Open in January are now in his grasp. He can finish the year in the top 300 and that’s awesome for him.”
Musialek, the 2012 graduate from UK, has made at least the quarterfinals in his last four tournament appearances, including winning the Tehran event last week. The Tehran Open sponsored by the ATP, was worth 18 event points for Musialek, who won the final match 7-5, 6-0 over No. 329 Jules Marie (FRA). Musialek beat another highly-ranked opponent in N. Vijay Sundar Prasganth (IND) in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-1.
Musialek has only dropped four sets in his last three weeks of action. He made the finals of the Tehran outdoor event the week of Aug. 18, falling to Jules Marie (FRA) in the finals of that event 7-5, 2-6, 4-6.
“I am really happy with my three weeks,” Musialek said. “I had to fight through some pain and be very professional the last three weeks. I am playing well and my confidence is there. There is still a long road ahead but this was a big step in the right direction to go from the top 500 to the top 350 in the world. I can’t wait for the next tournaments in Spain. Go Cats and Go Big Blue!!”
Jomby, who was the Wildcats top-ranked player for the past two seasons, has also had great success the past couple of weekends, making the quarterfinals of the Turkey F31 Futures Tour, winning all three of his matches so far this week, including a 6-1, 6-4 win over Antoine Bellier (SUI) in the third round of the event on Tuesday afternoon.
Jomby will face fellow Frenchman No. 437 Remi Boutillier on Wednesday at 4:30 a.m. ET looking to advance into the next round.
“Tom’s beginning will not be easy as he has to qualify each week but he needs these matches since he has not played the last couple months,” Kauffmann said about Jomby. “Tom will do great on the ATP Tour. Once he finds his game he will be a big threat. I can’t wait to see what he ends up doing in the fall.”
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