LEXINGTON, Ky.?The No. 56 University of Kentucky men?s tennis team will hit the road and visit its first non-conference opponent since early February, when they travel to Champagne to take on No. 8 Illinois.
Kentucky (12-10, 2-6) is in the midst of its remaining regular season slate which features match-ups with seven teams ranked in the top-60 in the country, and three in the top-10. Kentucky fell to No. 1 Georgia on Friday, and next will take on Illinois. They conclude their top-10 match-ups with No. 5 Notre Dame next week.
The Blue and White enter the match with the Illini having dropped its last two matches to SEC-foes. Junior Marcus Sundh paced the Cats this weekend with two upset victories in the team?s loss to Tennessee. Sundh paired with senior Peter Bjork to knock off the No. 55 Volunteers? doubles tandem of Adam Hubble and Ben Rogers. Sundh then upset No. 120 Davey Sandgren at No. 3 singles to earn Kentucky?s lone point of the match. The Stockholm, Sweden, native leads the team with a 15-5 dual match record, and is three wins shy of the 20-win plateau. If he notches 20 wins this season, it will mark the third consecutive season he has achieved the feat.
The No. 8 Illinois men’s tennis team could not pull out an upset win over No. 5 Notre Dame Sunday, falling 5-2 despite clinching the doubles point to open the contest in its last outing. Illinois boasts the defending national champion duo of juniors Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe in doubles, rated this season as the country?s 69th best team. Anderson also pairs with Ruben Gonzales to form the nation?s No. 15 duo. In singles, the Fighting Illini are paced by Anderson, the No. 6 player in the country. He is17-5 on the season and heads the singles for Illinois. Also ranked is Rowe at No. 12, who has posted a 19-7 record in singles action.
UK and Illinois have met each year in recent history, alternating home and away dates. Last season, Kentucky dropped a 7-0 decision on its home courts to the No. 5 Illini. Kentucky has twice knocked off a top-rated Illinois team in Champagne, in 1999 and 2005.
In 1999, Illinois entered the match with a No. 2 ranking and quickly took the first point of the match winning all three doubles matches. With straight set wins at No. 1 and No. 4 singles, the No. 13 Wildcats had dug themselves a 3-0 hole. The Wildcats got some lift when Carlos Drada downed Cary Franklin, 6-2, 6-4, at the No. 2 spot, and Edo Bawono narrowed the gap with a straight set win over Jeff Laski in the No. 3 hole. Gustav Pousette, at No. 5, and John Grunditz, at No. 6, dropped their first sets 6-4, before rallying in the second for 6-2 wins and cruising to victories in the third sets. The comeback was culminated when Grunditz recorded the final point against Illinois? Arnaud Lantin to complete one of Kentucky?s greatest come-from-behind victories of all-time.
In 2005, Illinois again held a No. 2 national ranking. UK junior Nate Emge rallied from a second-set deficit to provide the clinching point for Kentucky, as the Cats utilized a solid all-around effort to upset No. 2 Illinois by a 4-3 count. The ground-breaking Wildcat victory, in an indoor setting where the Illini have a reputation for excellence, snapped a 38-home match win streak dating back to March 7, 2002.
First serve with Illinois is slated for 4 p.m. Complete coverage of the day?s events can be found at www.ukathletic.com.
