No. 6 Men’s Tennis Hosts LSU, Arkansas as SEC Play Continues
LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 6 Kentucky men’s tennis (13-2, 1-1 SEC) heads into the second weekend of conference play looking to bolster its record with a pair of home matches against LSU (8-3, 0-2 SEC) and Arkansas (12-2, 0-1 SEC) this Thursday and Saturday at the Boone Tennis Center.
Thursday’s fixture with the Tigers will begin at 5 p.m., while Saturday’s match against the Razorbacks is set for 1 p.m. Admission to all Kentucky home tennis matches is free to the public. Live stats and streaming are also available for fans.
The Wildcats opened SEC action last weekend by splitting matches with South Carolina and Texas A&M. Kentucky was edged by the Gamecocks, 4-3, before defeating the Aggies by an identical scoreline last Saturday. Six of UK’s last nine matches have ended with a 4-3 score, with the Cats tallying a 5-1 record in such contests.
Junior Joshua Lapadat paces the team with 11 singles victories and eight doubles wins on spring and is currently riding a team best six-match win streak in singles. Lapadat (No. 47) is joined in the latest ITA singles rankings by teammates Liam Draxl (No. 23), Alafia Ayeni (No. 28), Taha Baadi (No. 102) and Charlelie Cosnet (No. 112). Lapadat and partner JJ Mercer also appear in the doubles rankings, coming in at No. 56 in the nation.
LSU comes to Lexington having dropped its first two SEC matches to Texas A&M and Florida. The Tigers are led by their No. 1 singles, Ronnie Hohmann, a 2022 ITA All-American currently ranked No. 55 in the country in singles. Welsh Hotard, Stefan Latinovic and George Stoupe each have six singles victories for the spring, tied for the team lead. Latinovic and partner Nick Watson are 6-3 at the first doubles position for the Tigers and are ranked No. 35 by the ITA.
Arkansas dropped its SEC opener to Vanderbilt and will face Ole Miss on Thursday before traveling to Lexington. Savva Stefanos, a junior transfer from Charlotte, has held down the first singles spot for the Razorbacks for much of the spring, while junior partners Adrien Burdet and Melvin Manuel pose a formidable doubles pair, ranked at No. 75 in the country.
For the latest on UK Men’s Tennis, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKMensTennis.
