Main draw men’s begins Monday afternoon with two treats: top-seeded
James Ward, a British Davis Cupper, opens with Mathieu Rodrigues of France; and
eighth-seeded Amer Delic, the ’06 Lexington Challenger runner-up who climbed to
No. 60 in the world the next year…but is battling back from injuries at No.
246. The 7 p.m. spotlight will be on sixth-seeded Michael Yani on one stadium
court and USTA wild card Jack Sock of Lincoln, NE, who won the U.S Open Juniors
last year, on the other. Eric Quigley and Brad Cox, the University of
Kentucky’s top duo, will play a first round doubles in the evening’s second
feature.
Monday’s most anticipated (re)match: Qualies 2 seed Jordan
Cox, the 19-year-old brother of Brad, versus Devin Britton, the ’09 NCAA singles
champ out of Ole Miss, approximately 2 p.m. In 2009, Cox bested Britton in the
Junior Wimbledon semis, 16-14 in the third.
Big Blue Tuesday: Before the UK’s top two men take to the
Boone Tennis Center courts that have been their “home” for three seasons, a
Celebrity Doubles Cats Clash will certainly entertain at 7 p.m. Lined up for
this super-tiebreaker are Josh “Jorts” Harrelson, the UK center who’ll next
wear a New York Knicks uniform; former UK All-American Kyle Macy of the ’78
national champions; Rachel Lawson, who coached UK to within a game of the
College World Series this spring; and a Big Blue ringer TBD.
About 7:20, Tennessee’s Rhyne Williams and Kentucky’s
Quigley – who will probably rank 2 and 3 in the NCAA pre-season – face off in a
Big Blue dream match. Williams won the NCAA Indoor in the winter and was the
NCAA singles runner-up last month. UK’s Alex Musialek of France takes center
court at their conclusion.
