Kentucky to Host VCU In Lone Weekday Match

LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 11 Kentucky men’s tennis (6-0) will host Virginia Commonwealth University (2-2) at the Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Monday, Feb. 6 at 1 p.m.
 
While UK was scheduled to play No. 6 Virginia on Friday, Feb. 4, the match was postponed due to winter weather storms in Lexington. The teams have rescheduled and will now play on Thursday, March 31 at 5 p.m. ET. 
 
The Wildcats will play their first match at the Boone Center in 14 days after winning the ITA Kickoff Championship event in Starkville, Mississippi this past weekend, earning a spot in the ITA Indoor Championship in Seattle from Feb. 18-21.
 
VCU is coming off their ITA Kickoff Weekend going 1-1, falling to No. 7 Georgia, 1-4, winning the doubles point before dropping four straight singles matches. 
 
The Rams then went on to win their consolation match against Virginia Tech the following day, 4-2, winning four of five completed singles matches. Charles Bertimon picked up his first ranked singles win of his career against No. 78 Ryan Fishback in a 6-2, 6-1 win. Junior Bertimon is 21-6 in singles during his collegiate career and was named to the 2020-21 All-Atlantic 10 First Team.
 
Rams head coach Anthony Rossi will make his return to Lexington for the first time as the leader of the VCU program. Rossi, a former Kentucky men’s tennis player, finished his Wildcat playing career with a 107-34 record from 2010-13.
 
During his time on the team, Rossi earned multiple accolades. Those include being named a First Team All-American after his senior season, First Team All-SEC and team captain in his junior and senior seasons and earning a spot in the University of Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame. 
 
Rossi has accumulated a 41-18 record as a head coach, winning two A-10 titles and Coach of the Year awards, since being named to the position in Aug. 2018. 
 
The team features one ranked singles player, No. 98 Inigo Torre Martin, and a ranked doubles pair in twins and 59^th-ranked Charles and Maxence Bertimon. Torre Martin has won 72% of his 97 total singles matches during his five years at VCU. 
 
The last time the Rams met the Wildcats was in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, where UK was victorious by a 4-1 score. VCU was scheduled to play at the Boone Center last season, however, the match was canceled. 
 
Kentucky’s most recent outings came this past weekend during the ITA Weekend Kickoff against Alabama and No. T-19 Mississippi State. The Wildcats won both of their matches, 4-0, over the Crimson Tide and 4-2 against the Bulldogs.
 
Captain Millen Hurrion clinched their spot to the Indoor Championships in his 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win over the Bulldogs’Nemanja Malesevic. His team-high fifth singles victory marked the second time in his career to start the season 5-0 and earned his second match-clinching point of the year. 
 
Admission to all home matches for Kentucky Tennis is free of charge to the public. For any indoor match held on UK’s campus, masks for all attendees are required in conjunction with the University of Kentucky’s indoor mask mandate currently in place. Doors to the Boone Tennis Complex will open one hour prior to the start of each match.
 
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter and Facebook, @kentuckymenstennis on Instagram, and on the web at UKAthletics.com.