Men’s Tennis Begins Four Match Road Stretch at Auburn, Alabama
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team is set to begin a four match road stretch—its longest of the season—in the Yellowhammer State this weekend, taking on Auburn on Thursday, March 20 at 4 p.m. ET and Alabama on Saturday, March 22 at 2 p.m. ET.
The Cats head down Interstate-65 after winning consecutive conference matches for the first time this season, taking down LSU and Vanderbilt at home to improve their record to 9-0 at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex. Jack Loutit led the Wildcats with a 4-0 combined record across singles and doubles on the weekend, improving his dual match record to 12-2 in singles and picking up his second and third consecutive ranked wins in doubles alongside Eli Stephenson.
In the latest release of the ITA Rankings, the Cats moved up three spots to No. 30. Auburn checks in at No. 27 and Alabama enters the weekend at No. 33.
The Cats retained singles rankings for four players, led by Loutit at No. 49. Freshman Antoine Ghibaudo slots at No. 63, Jaden Weekes follows at No. 74, and Charlelie Cosnet rounds out the quartet at No. 121. Additionally, for the first time this season, the Cats feature a ranked doubles team, as Loutit and Stephenson rose from unranked to No. 21 in the last two weeks.
Auburn enters Thursday’s contest on the heels of three straight wins, including SEC victories over No. 18 Oklahoma and Ole Miss. The Tigers are led in singles by Alexander Frusina, currently ranked No. 60 in the country. On the doubles court, the Tigers’ top pair of Billy Blaydes and William Nolan check in at No. 10.
Alabama, sitting idle on Thursday, is looking to snap a four-match losing skid on Saturday. The Crimson Tide have yet to lose a match at Alabama Tennis Stadium and are led by 2024 NCAA Singles Champion and ITA No. 18 Filip Planinsek. Two other Alabama players—No. 83 Roan Jones and No. 119 Matias Ponce de Leon—also find themselves ranked on the singles court. In doubles, Planinsek—partnered with Matic Kirznik—rank No. 32 in the country and Andrii Zimnokh and Damien Nezar check in at No. 83.
The Cats will continue their road stretch next weekend, traveling to the Lone Star state to take on No. 4 Texas on Friday, March 28 and No. 12 Texas A&M on Sunday, March 30.
All home matches will be played at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex, and admission is free to the public for all regular season contests. A live stream will be provided for all home matches on UKAthletics.com.
For the latest on UK Men’s Tennis, follow the Wildcats on X and Instagram at @UKMensTennis.
