Men's Tennis
October 29, 2019 - 06:48 PM

Yamada Reaches Quarterfinals at ITA Ohio Valley Regionals

by Connor Link

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kentucky junior Kento Yamada, the fourth-ranked singles player in the Ohio Valley, earned four wins on a run to the quarterfinals of the main draw at the 2019 ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships.

The annual tournament, which ran from Oct. 24-28 on the campus of Vanderbilt University, saw seven different Wildcats claim a combined 16 victories overall.

Yamada began his run with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Indiana’s Payam Ahmadi last Thursday, followed by a 6-0, 6-2 triumph over Riku Kubota of Tennessee Tech in the round of 64. Yamada defeated ETSU redshirt sophomore Dimitri Badra 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round before picking up a 6-4, 6-4 ranked win over No. 32 Jan Pallares of Memphis in the round of 16. The Kobe, Japan, native’s time ended with a narrow 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 loss to eventual runner-up No. 8 Bennett Crane of Indiana in the quarterfinals.

“I am proud of Kento,” said UK assistant coach Matthew Gordon. “He is starting to step up and believe he can take his game to the next level.”

The runs of No. 22 Millen Hurrion and No. 21 Kevin Huempfner ended just before Yamada’s in the fourth round of the bracket. Hurrion won a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6) decision over No. 5 Billy Rowe of Vanderbilt before falling 6-2, 6-4 to eventual champion Tin Chen of Louisville.

“We’ve had a good fall overall,” Gordon said. “Having three guys in the round of 16 and one in the quarterfinals is great, but the guys all know they are capable of more.”

The Cats will continue fall tournament play with the Wake Forest Invite on Nov. 8-10 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

For the latest on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter and Facebook, @kentuckymenstennis on Instagram, and follow along on the web at UKAthletics.com.

Singles (Main Draw)
First Round     #23 Alexandre LeBlanc (Kentucky) def. Nathan Schwartz (Northern Kentucky) 6-7 (0), 6-4, 6-3
                            #6 George Harwell (Vanderbilt) def. Ying-Ze Chen (Kentucky) 6-1, 6-2
                            #4 Kento Yamada (Kentucky) def. Payam Ahmadi (Indiana) 6-0, 7-5
                            #21 Kevin Huempfner (Kentucky) def. Pedro Uribe (Lipscomb) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
                            #22 Millen Hurrion (Kentucky) def. Julian Saborio (Purdue) 6-1, 6-2
                            Parth Aggarwal (Kentucky) def. Juan Carlos Rojas Antezana (Tennessee State) 6-3, 6-0
                            Miguel Este (ETSU) def. #18 Gabriel Diallo (Kentucky) 7-6 (4), 7-5
                            #16 César Bourgois (Kentucky) def. Matthew DeMarco (Dayton) 6-1, 6-3

Second Round     Max Rauch (Middle Tennessee) def. #23 Alexandre LeBlanc (Kentucky) 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4
                            #4 Kento Yamada (Kentucky) def. Riku Kubota (Tennessee Tech) 6-0, 6-2
                            #21 Kevin Huempfner (Kentucky) def. Jake Briggs (Belmont) 6-3, 6-4
                            #22 Millen Hurrion (Kentucky) def. Pablo Caffarena (Lipscomb) 6-3, 7-5
                            #14 Zac Brodney (Indiana) def. Parth Aggarwal (Kentucky) 6-1, 6-1
                            Fabien Salle (Louisville) def. #16 César Bourgois (Kentucky) 7-6 (4), 6-1

Third Round         #4 Kento Yamada (Kentucky) def. Dimitri Badra (ETSU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
                            #21 Kevin Huempfner (Kentucky) def. Tom Moonen (Middle Tennessee) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
                            #22 Millen Hurrion (Kentucky) def. #5 Billy Rowe (Vanderbilt) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6)

Fourth Round       #4 Kento Yamada (Kentucky) def. #32 Jan Pallares (Memphis) 6-4, 6-4
                            #8 Bennett Crane (Indiana) def. #21 Kevin Huempfner (Kentucky) 6-2, 6-4
                            Tin Chen (Louisville) def. #22 Millen Hurrion (Kentucky) 6-2, 6-4

Quarterfinals        #8 Bennett Crane (Indiana) def. #4 Kento Yamada (Kentucky) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4

Singles (Consolation Draw)
First Round     Steven Karl (Dayton) def. Ying-Ze Chen (Kentucky) 6-3, 7-6 (5)
                            Jorge Rodriguez Agudo (Northern Kentucky) def. Gabriel Diallo (Kentucky) W.O.

Doubles
First Round          Parth Aggarwal/Kevin Huempfner (Kentucky) def. Sean Bailey/Ethan Mardanus-Budiono (IUPUI) 8-7 (7)
                            Payam Ahmadi/Andrew Redding (Indiana) def. #7 César Bourgois/Millen Hurrion (Kentucky) 8-7 (8)
                            Thibault de Negri/Danilo Kovacevic (Ball State) def. Ying-Ze Chen/Kento Yamada (Kentucky) 8-6
                            Gabriel Diallo/Alexandre LeBlanc (Kentucky) def. Andrew Rogers/Finn Stodder (Tennessee) 8-5

Second Round    Parth Aggarwal/Kevin Huempfner (Kentucky) def. Max Rauch/Francisco Rocha (Middle Tennessee) 8-6
                            #2 David Stevenson/Oscar Cutting (Memphis) def. Gabriel Diallo/Alexandre LeBlanc (Kentucky) 8-4

Third Round         #8 Maxwell Freeman/George Harwell (Vanderbilt) def. Parth Aggarwal/Kevin Huempfner (Kentucky) 8-2