Florida Gators
Kentucky
#14 Men's Tennis Edged By #7 Kentucky, 4-3
Saturday, March 16, 2002 | Men's Tennis
A year ago in Gainesville, with the match tied 3-3, Ross Greenstein of UF beat Rahim Esmail of UK at No. 6 singles to give the Gators a 4-3 win but tonight, with the match tied 3-3, Esmail defeated Greenstein at No. 6 to give the Wildcats the victory.
UF started off the match right by winning the doubles point for the ninth time in its 11 matches this year, despite playing without the ailing Olivier Levant for the doubles portion of the contest. Chris McDonald and Hamid Mirzadeh,, ranked 33rd in the nation, gave UF a 8-5 win at No. 1 while Matt Behrmann and Tory Hahn gave the Gators a 8-4 win at No. 2. UK took the No. 3 match.
Levant returned to the lineup for singles andwas one of two Gators to win their matches. Levant upended #77 Evan Austin, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 3 while 50th ranked Eleazar Magallan took down No. 39 Karim Benmansour of UK, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Wins by Kentucky at No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 left the match in the hands of Greenstein and Esmail for the second consecutive year. Unfortunately for the Gators the home court would once again prove fruitful as Esmail, the home-standing Wildcat, beat Greenstein, 6-0, 6-2, to improve to 14-0 on the year.
The Gators return to action on Sunday when they travel to Nashville to face No. 30 Vanderbilt. Florida has not lost at VU's Currey Tennis Center since 1991.
Doubles
No. 1 McDonald/Mirzadeh (UF) def. Austin/Benmansour (UK) 8-5
No. 2 Behrmann/Hahn (UF) def. Emery/Pousette (UK) 8-4
No. 3 Esmail/Witten (UK) def. Greenstein/Magallan (UF) 8-4
Singles No. 1 #5 Jesse Witten (UK) def. #70 Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 #50 Eleazor Magallan (UF) def. #39 Karim Benmansour (UK) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 Olivier Levant (UF) def. #77 Evan Austin (UK) 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 #81 Gustav Pousette (UK) def. Troy Hahn (UF) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
No. 5 Matt Emery (UK) def. Matt Behrmann (UF) 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 Rahim Esmail (UK) def. Ross Greenstein (UF) 6-0, 6-2
