Men’s Tennis Begins Weekend with 4-0 Win Over Notre Dame

LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 10 Kentucky men’s tennis (4-0) opened ITA Kickoff Weekend with a resounding 4-0 victory over Notre Dame (3-1) on Friday afternoon at the Boone Tennis Center, advancing to tomorrow’s Championship match to face either Alabama or Nebraska.

Kentucky earned its third doubles’ point in four matches to take the 1-0 lead over the Fighting Irish as UK picked up wins on both courts two and three. After Notre Dame won a 6-1 decision at first doubles, Jaden Weekes and Eli Stephenson evened the fight with a 6-2 victory over Nil Giraldez and Yu Zhang on court three. With each team possessing one win, the doubles’ point was left in the hands of court two where Kentucky’s Taha Baadi and Matt Rankin overcame Notre Dame’s Chase Thompson and Evan Lee, 6-4, putting the Cats ahead, 1-0 overall.

In singles, freshman Jack Loutit bounced back from a defeat in his last outing, taking out Notre Dame’s Jean-Marc Malkowski, 6-2, 6-4. With the win, Loutit improves his singles record this season to 3-1. With UK ahead 2-0, fifth-year Baadi captured the Cats’ third point of the afternoon with a straight-set decision over Thompson at second singles. Making his season singles’ debut, it was Weekes who provided the clinch for the Wildcats at third singles, finishing the job in a second-set tiebreaker against Giraldez.

The Wildcats move on to the ITA Kickoff Weekend Lexington Regional Championship tomorrow at 3 p.m. where they will face the winner of Friday evening’s contest between Alabama and Nebraska. The Champion of the Lexington Regional will advance to the ITA DI National Men’s Team Indoor Championship, to be held in New York, Feb. 16-19.

Doubles Results

1. Dominko/Malkowski (ND) def. Mercer/Lapadat (UK): 6-1
2. Baadi/Rankin (UK) def. Thompson/Lee (ND): 6-4
3. Stephenson/Weekes (UK) def. Giraldez/Zhang (ND): 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles Results

1. Joshua Lapadat (UK) vs. No. 65 Sebastian Dominko (ND): 6-7 (4), 5-5 (unfinished)
2. Taha Baadi (UK) def. Chase Thompson (ND): 6-3, 6-4
3. Jaden Weekes (UK) def. Nil Giraldez (ND): 6-3, 7-6 (4)
4. Jack Loutit (UK) def. Jean-Marc Malkowski (ND): 6-2, 6-4
5. Charlelie Cosnet (UK) vs. Yu Zhang (ND): 2-1 (unfinished)
6. Eli Stephenson (UK) vs. Brian Bilsey (ND): 0-1 (unfinished)

Order of finish: 4, 2, 3