No. 16 Kentucky Downs Louisville, 6-1 on Friday Evening
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 16 Kentucky Wildcats added another win into the victory column Friday with a 6-1 victory over the Louisville Cardinals, and notable ranked singles victories coming from Taha Baadi and Jaden Weekes at the Boone Tennis Complex on Friday evening.
Kentucky found itself in a tough battle with the Cardinals to win the doubles’ point. With the pressure shifting to courts two and three after suffering a loss on court one, the Wildcats evened the fight at one all in doubles thanks to Jaden Weekes and Eli Stephenson, winning 6-3 over Will Mayew and Piet Steveker. Taha Baadi and Jack Loutit were able to complete the comeback, as they battled back and forth with Cardinals’ Andre’ Steinbach and Miguel Avendaño in a tiebreaker, to win the doubles’ point 7-6 (5) and give Kentucky the 1-0 lead in the match. On court one, JJ Mercer and Joshua Lapadat found it hard to find an answer for the pairing of Nathan Rodrigues and Etienne Donnet in a 6-1 loss.
Up 1-0, the Wildcats continued to show their strength in the singles session led by the efforts of Loutit, Baadi, and Weekes. Freshman Jack Loutit captured the Wildcats second point of the match defeating Louisville’s Andre’ Steinbach, 6-4, 6-2.
Baadi continued his momentum from the doubles point victory, beating No. 16 Etienne Donnet 6-3, 7-6 (5) in a thrilling matchup. Nathan Rodrigues of UL gave the Cardinals their only point of the evening defeating Lapadat 6-4, 7-6 (5) in two tight sets on court two.
On court four, Weekes overcame an early deficit to beat No. 56 Will Mayew 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, clinching the match for the Wildcats, as UK went up 4-1 in the composite scoreline.
Charlelie Cosnet and Stephenson both continued to play out their matches, despite the clinch. Cosnet defeated Kosuke Nakanishi 6-1, 6-3. Louisville native Eli Stephenson defeated Cardinals’ Enrique Peña 6-4, 6-4 to close out the match.
The Wildcats aim to extend their new win streak on Sunday as they face the two-time defending national champion, Virginia. The match will begin at Noon ET at the Boone Tennis Complex, and admission is free.
Kentucky 6, Louisville 1
Doubles
Court 1 – Rodrigues/Donnet (UL) def. Mercer/Lapadat (UK) 6-1
Court 2 – Weekes/Stephenson (UK) def. Mayew/Steveker (UL) 6-3
Court 3 – Baadi/Loutit (UK) def. Steinbach/Avendaño (UL) 7-6 (5)
Singles
Court 1 – Tara Baadi (UK) def. No. 16 Etienne Donnet (UL) 6-3, 7-6 (5)
Court 2 – Nathan Rodrigues (UL) def. Joshua Lapadat (UK) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Court 3 – Jack Loutit (UK) def. Andre’ Steinbach (UL) 6-4, 6-2
Court 4 – Jaden Weekes (UK) def. No. 56 Will Mayew (UL) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Court 5 – Charlelie Cosnet (UK) def. Kosuke Nakanishi (UL) 6-1, 6-3
Court 6 – Eli Stephenson (UK) def. Enrique Peña (UL) 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish:
Doubles—2, 1, 3
Singles— 3, 1, 2, 4*, 5, 6
For the latest on UK Men’s Tennis, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKMensTennis.
