Stefanik, Yates Win on Day One of SEC Coaches Classic
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Kentucky men’s tennis team
earned two singles draw victories and three doubles draw wins on the first day
of play at the SEC Coaches Classic on the campus of the University of Alabama
on Friday.
Junior Jake Stefanik coasted his way in to the semifinals
after he defeated LSU’s Cameron Andry 6-1, 6-2 following his first-round bye.
Stefanik will take on Alex Ross from Vanderbilt in the John Stimpson Main Draw
on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Junior Trey Yates picked up a win in singles after he defeated Connor Huertas of Auburn, 7-6(4),
6-4. Yates will face Spencer Richey of host Alabama at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday
to try and advance through the Jeff Robinson Singles Draw.
Freshman Alex Dominguez and junior Gus Benson lost their singles
matches and will play at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Entering doubles play, Dominguez and Yates pulled together
for a robust doubles performance. The duo reeled in two wins on the day after
crushing Ritchie Kruunenberg and Alexey Nesterov of Alabama, 8-2, and took an
8-7(3) decision against South Carolina’s Andrew Schafer and Thomas Mayronne.
Dominguez and Yates will face Justin Butsch and Agie Moreno in the championship
match of the Andy Solis Draw at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.
The pairing of Gus Benson and Stefanik lost a tight match to
the 16th ranked duo in the country in Gabriel Friedrich and Harrison
O’Keefe of South Carolina, 8-7(6), but bounced back with a strong 8-2 showing
against Vanderbilt’s pairing of Pen Binet and Panu Virtanen. Benson and
Stefanik will face Arkansas’s Juan Marino and Adam Sanjurjo at 9 a.m. on
Saturday.
