UK men go 9-0 on first day of ITA Regional tennis championships

The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team won nine matches and did not lose a set on the first day of the ITA Regional Championships in Knoxville on Thursday.

Senior Nils Ellefsen, junior Trey Yates, sophomore Enzo Wallart and senior Beck Pennington each picked up two wins to advance to the third round.

“To go 9-0 on opening day of an ITA Regional event as difficult as this one is not easy to do,” assistant coach Matt Emery said. “I was happy with the wins, but I was even more pleased with the way we won. The guys did a great job of competing every point, taking nothing for granted and taking care of business. As a coach, it is great to see them playing with this type of confidence.”

Pennington defeated Diego Nunez of East Tennessee State 6-2, 6-1 and Guille Nicolas of Tennesse Tech 7-5, 6-1. He will face Tom Moonen of Middle Tennessee State on Friday at 2 p.m.

Yates beat Ramon Van Flymen of Eastern Kentucky 7-5, 6-3 and Mason Dragos of Butler 6-2, 6-1. He will take on Nicolas Rouanet of Dayton on Friday at 1 p.m

Ellefsen, a native of Oslo, Norway, defeated Matt Bishop of Xavier 6-2, 6-3 and Guillem Sanchis of EKU 6-2, 6-1. His next match is 1 p.m. Friday against Gonzalo Morell of EKU.

Wallart also won twice Thursday, defeating Lucas Andersen of Ball State 6-2, 6-2 and Carsten Fisher of Dayton 6-1, 7-5 to get to the third round. He will face No. 93 Eduardo Mena of Tennessee Tech on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 10:40 PM with the headline "UK men go 9-0 on first day of ITA Regional tennis championships."