For the first time since March 7, 2002, the Illinois men’s tennis team did not walk away from their home courts with a victory.

As fans watched in disbelief, the No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats celebrated on court four where Nate Emge handed Illinois senior Chris Martin a 6-4, 7-5 defeat. Kentucky topped No. 2 Illinois 4-3 – after the match was decided, the Wildcats defaulted the only other match that was still being contended between Illini sophomore GD Jones and Alex Hume.

“It’s a great feeling because they’re obviously one of the elite teams in the country,” said Kentucky head coach Dennis Emery. “I didn’t feel like they lost the match; I feel like we won the match.”

Emery said the Wildcats knew what to expect coming into the Atkins Tennis Center – a well-coached, extremely dedicated team.

“You don’t sneak up on Illinois,” Emery said. “That is what makes it even better.”

As the Illini scurried off the courts, the Wildcats congratulated each other. Kentucky had avenged two prior losses to Illinois – including one in the first round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Indoor Team Championships, which the Illini hosted in Chicago in February.

Illinois also narrowly escaped a loss the last time they traveled to Kentucky’s home courts last season.

This time, however, the Illini could not squeak out a win.

“We played not to lose – it was disappointing,” said Illinois head coach Craig Tiley. “We backed ourselves into a corner every opportunity we got.”

Tiley said the most disappointing aspect of the team’s loss was not that the men were unsuccessful. Instead, he said, the most frustrating part of the night was that the men were not making the progress he had expected of them.

Each athlete, he said, has a list of aspects of their games to work on and they did not show any signs of making progress.

“There are no bright spots,” Tiley said. “We’re better in my opinion than we played tonight. We controlled the situation tonight – we didn’t take advantage of it.”

Illinois lost the critical doubles point before beginning their downward spiral.

Illinois freshman Ruben Gonzales evened the score, defeating Wildcat Nolan Polley 6-4, 6-1.

Still, Gonzales, when asked to comment on his victory, could find few highlights – the win was inconsequential because of his poor performance, he said.

“It doesn’t mean much because the team lost,” Gonzales said. “I don’t really have any thoughts about it. I didn’t play very well.”

Kentucky also gained momentum from their No. 1 singles player Jesse Witten, who is No. 4 in the nation.

Witten defeated Illinois junior Ryler DeHeart 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Witten, who has a 32-5 record this season, has been “rock solid” for the Wildcats, Emery said.

“DeHeart played a great first set, he kind of opened the door a little bit for Jesse in the second set,” Emery said. “Once Witten got going, he really was able to keep his momentum.”

Tiley is also concerned about the Illini’s performance in the future. The Kentucky match, he said, would be the team’s last truly challenging contest before the Illini began their hunt for another NCAA title.

If the men are not prepared to play a top-20 opponent at this point in the season, he said, they may not be ready in May.

“We have that challenge against tough competition and we don’t step up,” Tiley said. “We won’t get it done at the end of the year if we do the same thing.”