No. 21 Kentucky Travels to No. 12 Florida, Hosts No. 27 South Carolina This Weekend

GAINESVILLE, Fla – The Kentucky (10-4, 3-0 SEC) men’s tennis team will continue Southeastern Conference play this weekend when UK travels to No. 12 Florida and hosts No. 27 South Carolina. The Wildcats will face the Gators on Friday at 5 p.m. ET at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex and the Gamecocks on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Boone Tennis Center.
 
Last weekend, Kentucky stayed perfect in the SEC with two wins. The Wildcats took down No. 32 Ole Miss, 4-0 and Arkansas, 5-2. Kentucky won the doubles point in both matches, with Cesar Bourgois and Gus Benson earning a ranked doubles victory over No. 15 Fabian Fallert Tim Sandkaulen, 6-4 in the win against the Rebels. Those wins shot up the Wildcats nine spots in the team ITA rankings to No. 21.
 
Ryo Matsumura, currently ranked No. 49 in the Oracle ITA singles rankings, earned two ranked wins on the No. 1 court last weekend, including one that clinched the match. Matsumura’s clincher was against No. 19 Sandkaulen, 7-5, 6-2. The Fukui, Japan native also beat No. 84 Jose Salazar of Arkansas, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Matsumura now has four ranked wins this season, and is perfect on the No. 1 court.
 
Florida heads into the weekend coming of a midweek loss to No. 32 TCU. UF is 3-1 in SEC play and 8-6 overall, with ranked wins over Michigan, Notre Dame, Georgia and Tennessee. It’s lone SEC loss came on the road at No. 27 Mississippi State. In last week’s Oracle ITA rankings, five Gators found themselves in the top-25. Johannes Ingildsen is the highest ranked at No. 6, while Alfredo Perez is No. 7. Darte Vale is No. 68, Oliver Crawford is No. 93 and Andy Andrade is No. 101.
 
South Carolina 12-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play. SC’s league wins are over Georgia and Auburn, and have lost to Tennessee and Mississippi State. The Gamecocks highest ranked singles player is Gabriel Friedrich, who is 12-3 in dual play and 11-2 as the No. 1 player. Francisco Cerundolo is No. 80 and is 6-3 this season.
 
After this weekend, Kentucky will hit the road to face Auburn and Mississippi State.
 
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter or Kentucky Men’s Tennis Team on Facebook.