UK Men’s Tennis Unveils 2018-19 Slate
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky men’s tennis team unveiled its slate of matchups for the upcoming 2019 season on Tuesday. UK will compete in seven team events in the fall prior to the regular season, which will begin in January and feature 11 home matches.
The Wildcats will open the fall at the UVA Masters in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Sept. 21-23 before back-to-back ITA events at the All-American Championships, which will take up a week in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from Oct. 1-8, and regionals on Oct. 11-15 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
A fall trip down the coast to the FGCU Invite in Fort Meyers, Florida, awaits UK before it will head back up the road to compete in Birmingham, Alabama, for both the ITF USA F29 Futures – beginning on Oct. 29 – and the CCB Collegiate Invitational on Nov. 2. Both events will run until Nov. 4.
The ATP Knoxville Challenger will present UK individuals with an opportunity to compete in its event on Nov. 10 prior to the ITA National Fall Championships, held at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Club in Surprise, Arizona, Nov. 7-11.
UK will travel to the campus of defending national champion Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Nov. 9-11 for the Wake Forest Invite. The Wildcats will round out the fall portion of the schedule with two more individual events at the ATP Champaign Challenger in Champaign, Illinois, on Nov. 12-17 and the ITF USA F33 Futures in Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 19-15.
UK will kick off the spring season with four consecutive home events over eight days. A doubleheader with Kennesaw State at noon and 4 p.m. ET on Jan. 13 will mark the first matches of 2019 at the Boone Center before a 1 p.m. meeting with Notre Dame on Jan. 19 and Duke at noon on Jan. 21.
Following the homestand, the Wildcats will travel to New York on Jan. 26-27 as part of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in matchups with Columbia, Dartmouth, and Virginia Tech. A few days later, UK will take to Columbus, Ohio, for a meeting with Ohio State on Jan. 31 before a return to Lexington on Feb. 3 to face Virginia.
Another trip to Champaign will take place on Feb. 8 for a matchup with national quarterfinalist Illinois. Following a doubleheader on Feb. 10 with an opponent to be announced, the Wildcats will hit the road for three-consecutive matches. UK will meet Oklahoma in Gainesville, Florida, on Feb. 24, before heading to Oxford, Mississippi, on March 1 to open conference play with Ole Miss and Starkville on March 3 for a match with defending SEC Champion and national quarterfinalist Mississippi State.
Ten SEC teams made it to the NCAA Championships last season with five reaching – at least – the third round, two the quarterfinals, and one the semifinals.
Back-to-back home matches will be in order for UK when it returns to Lexington to face the two Alabama rivals – Alabama on March 8 and Auburn on March 10. The Wildcats will meet the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on March 16 prior to traveling to Columbia, South Carolina, on March 21 for a competition with South Carolina.
The Florida Gators will visit Lexington on March 23 before UK takes to Nashville, Tennessee, for a match with Vanderbilt on March 29. UK will welcome 2018 national semifinalist and SEC Runner-Op Texas A&M to the Boone Center on April 4.
LSU will be UK’s final road match of the regular season on April 6, while consecutive home matches round out the season on April 12 with Georgia and April 14 with Tennessee.
The SEC Tournament will be held in Gainesville during the week of April 17-21.
