Singles Barrage Leads Cats Past No. 26 Mississippi State in SEC Opener
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Powered by a pair of ranked singles wins from No. 69 Antoine Ghibaudo and No. 121 Charlelie Cosnet, No. 28 Kentucky (8-3, 1-0 SEC) rallied from a doubles point deficit for the second time this season, taking down No. 26 Mississippi State (11-2, 1-1 SEC) by a final score of 4-2 at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington.
The Cats, playing in their SEC opener, also earned singles wins from No. 81 Jack Loutit and the clinching victory from Matt Rankin. Kentucky has now won their last 21 matches in conference action (regular season and tournament) and are now undefeated in their last 20 home matches. The Wildcats also extended their win streak over Mississippi State to six matches, dating to 2019.
Kentucky dropped the doubles point for the fifth time this season after a pair of top 30 Bulldog pairings eked out tight victories on courts one and two. Cosnet and Ghibaudo extended their doubles win streak to six matches with a 6-4 win on court three, taking the last five games of the set against Dusan Milanovic and Michal Novansky.
The Dogs responded by spoiling Loutit and Eli Stephenson’s debut at No. 1 doubles, as the tenth-ranked team of Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez broke in the tenth and final game to take a 6-4 victory.
For the second straight match, the doubles point would come down to a tiebreaker on the deciding court, with No. 29 Niccola Baroni and Mario Sanchez Martinez taking a tight 7-6 (7) win over Jaden Weekes and Martin Breysach. The Wildcat duo had three match points before the tiebreak, but was unable to secure the Cats’ first ranked double win of the season.
The tight affair continued into singles play, with three of the first four courts going into first set tiebreaks. Kentucky would win all three opening sets on those courts and ended up scoring all three available points.
No. 69 Ghibaudo was the first to finish, as the French freshman saved four set points at 4-5 to extend the opening frame and eventually win the set in a breaker. The top ranked newcomer in college tennis would carry the momentum into the second, securing an early break and never looking back to take the 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over No. 67 Jovanovic. The win was the second ranked victory of Ghibaudo’s collegiate career.
No. 121 Cosnet would take his first singles win in over three weeks, rallying from a 5-3 first set deficit to force a tiebreaker and eventually run away with the match. Cosnet took the first six points of the breaker to ease into the lead, followed by an early second set break to put the match out of reach. The Frenchman took the 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over No. 115 Niccola Baroni to earn his third ranked win of the season and first on the spring campaign.
No. 81 Loutit continued the theme of first set comebacks paired with easy second set wins, taking a 7-6 (8), 6-3 win over Dusan Milanovic on court three. Loutit fell behind 4-1 in the opening frame before rattling off three straight games to even the set and eventually work into a tiebreak. The Kiwi would save a pair of set points in the extended breaker to gain the advantage. Loutit would win five of the first six games in the second frame to establish control and eventually win his eighth consecutive match to start the spring season.
The Bulldogs would gain a point back on court two, as No. 65 Sanchez Martinez won a back-and-forth battle with No. 66 Weekes, with the visitor taking the 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 win.
Rankin would deliver his second clinch of the season at No. 6, taking a 6-3, 6-3 win over Bryan Hernandez Cortes to seal the 4-2 win. After each set began fairly even, Rankin would take late breaks in both frames and quickly consolidate to claim the win.
The Cats will make their conference road debut this Friday, February 28, taking on Florida at 5 p.m. ET at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville. Kentucky will quickly return home for a SEC Tournament Championship rematch with South Carolina on Sunday, March 2 at 1 p.m. ET. Admission to all home matches at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex is free to the public.
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No. 28 Kentucky vs. No. 26 Mississippi State
Doubles Results
- No. 10 Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Stephenson/Loutit (UK) 6-4
- No. 29 Baroni/Martinez Serrano (MSU) def. Breysach/Weekes (UK) 7-6 (7)
- Cosnet/Ghibaudo (UK) def. Milanovic/Novansky (MSU) 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles Results
- No. 69 Antoine Ghibaudo (UK) def. No. 67 Petar Jovanovic 7-6 (3), 6-4
- No. 65 Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. No. 66 Jaden Weekes (UK) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3
- No. 81 Jack Loutit (UK) def. Dusan Milanovic (MSU) 7-6 (8), 6-3
- No. 121 Charlelie Cosnet (UK) def. No. 115 Niccola Baroni 7-6 (1), 6-3
- Eli Stephenson (UK) vs. No. 85 Mario Martinez Sanchez (MSU) 7-5, 0-3 (unfinished)
- Matt Rankin (UK) def. Bryan Hernandez Cortes 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 4, 3, 2, 6
