Kentucky Singles Comeback Leads Cats past South Carolina, 4-2
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Returning to the Boone after a quick trip to Gainesville, No. 31 Kentucky men’s tennis (9-4, 2-1 SEC) managed an impressive singles comeback to triumph over No. 47 South Carolina (8-4, 2-1 SEC) at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
Kentucky fell behind in the doubles session early allowing the Gamecock pair on court one to quickly grab a victory, 6-3. The Wildcats duo on court two, Jaden Weekes and Martin Breysach, fought back, but were unable to finish before court three finalized the doubles point for the Gamecocks, 6-4. This marks Kentucky’s sixth doubles point loss.
However, Kentucky defended home territory with a huge singles run. To begin, freshman No. 69 Antoine Ghibaudo took a quick win against South Carolina’s veteran Casey Hoole, 7-5, 6-3. Following this momentum, No. 66 Weekes propelled ahead of Lucas Andrade da Silva with a fast two set win, 6-3, 6-4 giving Kentucky their first lead of the match.
With the top two courts taking care of business, team captain Charlelie Cosnet stepped up to put the Cats one point away from the win. No. 121 Cosnet defeated No. 68 Sean Daryabeigi in a three-set victory, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. South Carolina’s ranked graduate student. No. 110 Connor Thomson, tallied their first and only singles point with a win over Kentucky’s Jack Loutit, (7)7-6, 4-6 to keep them in the match.
Lastly, sophomore Matt Rankin clinched the match for the Cats with a win at the No. 6 position over the Gamecock’s Gabe Avram, 6-3, 6-2.
Kentucky will hit the road to face off the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga on Friday, Mar. 7 at 2 p.m.
Kentucky vs. South Carolina
Doubles:
Court 1: Thomson/Silva (SC) def. Loutit/Stephenson (UK): 6-3
Court 2: Breysach/Weekes (UK) vs. Sarr/Karahan (SC): 6-5 (unfinished)
Court 3: Hoole/Daryabeigi (SC) def. Ghibaudo/Cosnet(UK): 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
Court 1: Antoine Ghibaudo (UK) def. Casey Hoole (SC): 7-5, 6-3
Court 2: Jaden Weekes (UK) def. Lucas Andrade da Silva (SC): 6-3, 6-4
Court 3: Connor Thomson (SC) def. Jack Loutit (UK): (7)7-6, 4-6
Court 4: Charlelie Cosnet (UK) def. Sean Daryabeigi (SC): 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Court 5: Eli Stephenson (UK) vs. Atakan Karahan (SC): 6-4, 4-1 (unfinished)
Court 6: Matt Rankin (UK) vs. Gabe Avram (SC): 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 2, 4, 3, 6, 5.
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