No. 6 Kentucky Downs LSU, Extends Winning Streak
BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 6 Kentucky men’s tennis (13-2, 4-0 SEC) continued its unbeaten start to Southeastern Conference play, defeating No. 28 LSU (11-5, 1-4 SEC) by a final score of 4-2 at the LSU Tennis Complex. The Wildcats now sit alone in first place in the SEC standings as the only team without a conference loss.
Despite dropping the doubles point for the second consecutive match, the Wildcats picked up four singles victories to claim victory for the sixth consecutive match. Furthermore, Kentucky’s strong season attack recovered from a doubles deficit for the fourth time this season. The Wildcats are now 4-2 when required to get four singles wins for a dual victory.
The Tigers opened the match with a 1-0 lead, taking doubles victories on courts two and three. Stephenson and Jaden Weekes fell to No. 73 Welsh Hotard and George Stoupe 6-3, setting up a clinching win for LSU on court three, where Chen dong and Julien Penzlin defeated Matt Rankin and Jack Loutit. Court One’s ranked showdown between No. 13 JJ Mercer and Joshua Lapadat and No. 51 Stefan Latinovic and Aleksi Loffman went unfinished, with the score knotted at four.
The Cats would respond to the deficit immediately, claiming four of the six first sets and cruising to three straight set victories. Lapadat was the first to finish, tying the match at one with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Lofman on court two.
LSU would respond with their only singles win of the day, reclaiming a 2-1 lead as Latinovic upset No. 21 Taha Baadi on court one.
Loutit would tie the match for the Cats once again, winning his seventh consecutive match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Rudy Ceccon on court five. The New Zealander now has a perfect 5-0 record when playing at fifth singles this season.
The Wildcats would close the match in short order, as Charlelie Cosnet and Stephenson would finish almost simultaneously. Cosnet gave the Cats a 3-2 lead with a comeback victory on court four, defeating Penzlin 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. Stephenson would then clinch the match with a straight set victory on court six, defeating Hotard, 6-2, 7-5. The victory brought his season record to 12-0, continuing the undefeated start to his career and tying him with Loutit for the team lead. Weekes was a point away from victory on court three, but the dual concluded before his match could finish.
Kentucky will close out its two-game SEC road trip on Sunday, March 17, as they travel to Starkville, Miss. for a top-15 showdown with No. 15 Mississippi State. Action from the Rula Tennis Pavilion will commence at 2 p.m. ET, with live stats and a live stream available to fans.
RESULTS
No. 6 Kentucky vs. LSU
Doubles
No. 13 Lapadat/Mercer (UK) vs. No. 51 Latinovic/Lofman (LSU) 4-4 (unfinished)
No. 73 Hotard/Stoupe (LSU) def. Weekes/Stephenson (UK) 6-3
Dong/Penzlin (LSU) def. Loutit/Rankin (UK) 6-3
Singles
Stefan Latinovic (LSU) def. No. 21 Taha Baadi (UK) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Josh Lapadat (UK) def. Aleksi Lofman (LSU) 6-1, 6-3
Jaden Weekes (UK) vs. George Stoupe (LSU) 7-6 (4), 5-4 (unfinished)
Charlelie Cosnet (UK) def. Julien Penzlin (LSU) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2
Jack Loutit (UK) def. Rudy Ceccon (LSU) 6-4, 6-3
Eli Stephenson (UK) def. Welsh Hotard (LSU) 6-2, 7-5
Order of Finish:
Doubles— 2, 3*
Singles— 2, 1, 5, 4, 6*
For the latest on UK Men’s Tennis, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKMensTennis.
