Cats Claim Four Ranked Matchups, Fall 4-3 at No. 3 Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Despite combining for four individual ranked wins, the No. 20 Kentucky Wildcats (14-5, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) fell 4-3 to the No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers (19-2, 8-1 SEC) Sunday on the road.
 
Sunday marked Kentucky’s fourth one-point loss of the season, as well as its fourth loss to a top-15 opponent away from home.
 
Liam Draxl, Gabriel Diallo, and Millen Hurrion earned singles wins over nationally ranked foes, while Diallo and César Bourgois defeated the third-ranked doubles pair.
 
The 20^th-ranked Diallo and Bourgois opened doubles play with a 6-3 victory over No. 3 Adam Walton and Pat Harper, only for Tennessee to claim the doubles point with wins on courts two and three.
 
The 22^nd-ranked Draxl captured the match’s first singles point with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 17 Johannus Monday on the top court, providing the decorated sophomore with his fourth top-20 victory of the season and second of the weekend.
 
After the Vols retook the lead with a win on court four, the 46th-ranked Diallo stormed back from a slow start on court two and seized his second straight ranked singles win in 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 fashion over the 16^th-ranked Walton.
 
However, Tennessee would go on to seal the team win on courts five and six. Hurrion—who is ranked 125^th—and Martim Prata—who is ranked 40^th—completed a three-set battle on court three that was won 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7) by the former.
 
Kentucky’s path to finish out the regular season doesn’t get any easier, as the Cats are set to face four consecutive conference contenders ranging from second to 11^th in the national rankings. Kentucky will first host No. 10 South Carolina (11-6, 6-3 SEC) on Friday at 6 p.m. ET.
 
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter and Facebook, @kentuckymenstennis on Instagram, and on the web at UKAthletics.com.
 
 
#3 Tennessee 4, #20 Kentucky 3
 
Singles
1.#22 Liam Draxl (UK) def. #17 Johannus Monday (UT) 6-3, 6-4
2.#46 Gabriel Diallo (UK) def. #16 Adam Walton (UT) 1-6, 6-0, 6-3
3.#125 Millen Hurrion (UK) def. #40 Martim Prata (UT) 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7)
4.Luca Wiedenmann (UT) def. César Bourgois (UK) 6-1, 6-3
5.#80 Giles Hussey (UT) def. #84 Joshua Lapadat (UK) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
6.Mark Wallner (UT) def. Mathis Moysan (UK) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
 
Doubles
1.#20 César Bourgois/Gabriel Diallo (UK) def. #3 Adam Walton/Pat Harper (UT) 6-3
2.#67 Johannus Monday/Martim Prata (UT) def. Millen Hurrion/Liam Draxl (UK) 6-4
3.Giles Hussey/Mark Wallner (UT) def. Yasha Zemel/Joshua Lapadat (UK) 6-3
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,4,2,6,5,3)