Cat comes back after goose egg at Fifth Third

Special to the Herald-Leader,

Kentucky Wildcat Megan Broderick went down 6-0 in the first set to Julia Cohen Monday at the Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships.

That's 6-0 to the same opponent who blanked Broderick in straight sets in their junior days and who went to May's NCAA semifinals for the University of Miami.

But Broderick stayed positive on her way to a huge comeback in the second round of qualifying at UK's Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.

"I knew I was hanging in the points with her," said Broderick, the Cats' top returning player. "I knew I couldn't get frustrated. And I knew, if I focused on the key points, I could come back."

That she did. Down 3-2 in the second set, Broderick won five straight games and finished up with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.

"My aggression doesn't always come out, but I'm glad it did today," the rising junior said.

The win puts Broderick a victory away from her first Challenger main draw. Nicole Bartnik, a three-set winner Monday, stands in her way at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Former Kentucky star Bruno Agostinelli and current Wildcat Eric Quigley squeaked out a 12-10 super tiebreaker victory over UK's Brad Cox and his brother Jordan after splitting sets 6-3, 1-6. Jordan, the Junior Wimbledon runner-up two weeks ago, will play his singles wild card about 1 p.m. Tuesday.

All four men's qualifiers saw afternoon action and two advanced, including Alex Kuznetsov, who upset third-seeded Kevin Anderson, the 2006 NCAA doubles champion at Illinois.