No. 4 Kentucky Stumbles at No. 14 Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Fourth-ranked Kentucky men’s tennis (19-4, 7-3 SEC) dropped a Sunday matinee to No. 14 Tennessee (16-6, 6-2 SEC), falling 4-0 at Barksdale Tennis Stadium.

The Volunteers pulled ahead in doubles on senior day in Knoxville, earning narrow wins on courts two and three to move in front, 1-0. Kentucky’s first doubles pairing of Alafia Ayeni and Taha Baadi put up a strong showing against the second-ranked doubles team in the nation, taking Tennessee’s Pat Harper and Johannus Monday to a tiebreaker before the match was abandoned.

The Wildcats were unable to turn the tide in singles as Tennessee added wins on courts two, four and five to complete the victory. No. 57 Emile Hudd was the clincher for the Vols, defeating No. 27 Ayeni in a second-set tiebreak to score the home team’s fourth point.

Liam Draxl, Joshua Lapadat, and Charlelie Cosnet were all still alive in their matches when the contest was called.

The Cats will be idle until next Sunday when the team hosts Vanderbilt as 12 p.m. for Senior Day at the Boone Tennis Complex.

Results

Doubles

Court 1: No. 25 Ayeni/Baadi vs. No. 2 Harper/Monday (Tenn) – 6-6 (unfinished)

Court 2: No. 60 Hudd/Mitsui (Tenn) def. No. 38 Lapadat/Mercer – 7-5

Court 3: Diaz/Prata (Tenn) def. Draxl/Weekes (UK) – 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 2

Singles

Court 1: No. 22 Liam Draxl (UK) vs. No. 2 Johannus Monday (Tenn) – 2-6, 5-4 (unfinished)

Court 2: No. 57 Emile Hudd (Tenn) def. No. 27 Alafia Ayeni (UK) – 6-3, 7-6 (5)

Court 3: No. 44 Joshua Lapadat vs. Blaise Bicknell (Tenn) – 4-6, 3-4 (unfinished)

Court 4: No. 122 Shunsuke Mitsui (Tenn) def. Taha Baadi (UK) – 6-1, 6-2

Court 5: Angel Diaz (Tenn) def. Jaden Weekes (UK) – 6-1, 6-4

Court 6: Charlelie Cosnet (UK) vs. Martim Prata (Tenn) – 4-6, 6-3 (unfinished)

Order of finish: 4, 5, 2

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