No. 24 Kentucky Shuts Down No. 12 Florida, 4-1

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 24 Kentucky men’s tennis team overwhelmed the 12th-ranked Florida Gators 4-1 on Saturday afternoon inside the Boone Tennis Complex. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 14-8 overall and 5-4 in Southeastern Conference action, while Florida drops to 13-7 overall, 6-2 in league play.

 

“Was a really good team win,” said head coach Cedric Kauffmann. “We have had some really close matches this year against the best teams in the country. Have had chances in all the matches we lost except one. We are starting to believe and that is powerful. It was a great win today.”

The Wildcats picked up momentum early, taking the doubles point in impressive fashion. Despite dropping the first doubles match on court two, Kentucky answered with a triumph of its own as Gus Benson/Trey Yates won 6-3 in No. 3 doubles. It was left up to UK’s top duo of No. 27 Beck Pennington and Enzo Wallart to finish it off. The pair scratched their way through a tiebreak to ultimately take the match, 7-6 (4) and upset Florida’s sixth-ranked tandem of Alfredo Perez and Johannes Ingildsen.

In singles, Pennington breezed through a 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Chase Perez Blanco in No. 3 singles to lengthen Kentucky’s lead to two. The Gators responded with their lone point of the match as No. 106 Elliot Orkin downed 24th-ranked Ryotaro Matsumura in straight sets.

After battling his way to a win in the first set, No. 17 William Bushamuka found his stride and upset seventh-ranked Perez, 7-5, 6-0. With a 3-1 lead, the match was placed in Nils Ellefsen’s hands. Ellefsen suffered a setback after giving up the first set 6-3, but the senior fought his way through a second set and ultimately found himself in a third-set tiebreak where he pulled off the win.

UK will return to play next Sunday, April 9 at 1 p.m. ET for its final home match of the season against Alabama. The match will serve as Senior Day for Kentucky’s two seniors, Pennington and Ellefsen.

1 – #17 Will Bushamuka (UK) def. #7 Alfredo Perez (UF) 7-5, 6-0

2 – #106 Elliott Orkin (UF) def. #24 Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) 6-1, 6-3

3 – Beck Pennington (UK) def. Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) 6-3, 6-1

4 – #113 Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3)

5 – Trey Yates (UK) vs. Maxx Lipman (UF) 3-6, 3-2, unfinished

6 – Enzo Wallart (UK) vs. Joseph Guillin (UF) 6-4, 1-0, unfinished

1 – #27 Beck Pennington/Enzo Wallart (UK) def. #6 Alfredo Perez/Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 7-6 (7-4)

2 – Elliott Orkin/Maxx Lipman (UF) def. #77 Will Bushamuka/Nils Ellefsen (UK) 6-3

3 – Gus Benson/Trey Yates (UK) def. Joshua Wardell/Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) 6-3