No. 5 Kentucky Beats Georgia, Secures Share of SEC Crown
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky men’s tennis team (20-2, 11-0 SEC) clinched at least a share of the 2024 Southeastern Conference men’s tennis championship beating the Georgia Bulldogs, 4-1, in the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Friday night.
The doubles session was a nail biter with all three courts battling it out for the first official point of the match. Kentucky’s rookie-veteran duo of Taha Baadi and Jack Loutit snatched the first doubles victory over Georgia’s Ryan Colby and Thomas Paulsell, 6-3. Jaden Weekes and Matt Rankin pushed their match to a tiebreaker against Cyrus Mahjoob and Miguel Perez Pena, but could not prove the difference, falling 7-6. Leaving the first point of the dual up to Kentucky’s ranked pair No. 8 Josh Lapadat and JJ Mercer, the Wildcats sealed the victory in another nerve-wracking tiebreaker, 7-6. This marks Kentucky’s sixth doubles point victory in a row.
Georgia tied the match in the opening singles frame as Weekes gave Georgia a foot in the door coming up short against Niels Ratiu, 6-4, 6-1. Baadi took the first singles win for the Wildcats in straight sets over the Bulldogs No. 54 Paulsell to give Kentucky a 2-1 lead in the match. This is his eighth win against a nationally ranked opponent this season. Sophomore Charlelie Cosnet advanced over Georgia’s Pena, 6-4, 7-5. Lapadat sealed the deal for Kentucky with a competitive three-set finisher over No. 64 Colby, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2. This instrumental performance marks Lapadat’s second win over a ranked opponent this season.
The Wildcats win over the Georgia Bulldogs gives them the impressive SEC regular season championship title. Kentucky will take this momentum into its last match of the regular season against the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers on Sunday, April 14 at 1 p.m. ET at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex. Kentucky will celebrate senior day with free admission and a Drakes food truck. Senior day ceremonies will start at approximately 12:45 p.m. ET.
RESULTS
No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 38 Georgia
Doubles
No. 8 Lapadat/Mercer (UK) def. No. 27 Blaydes/Ratio (UGA) 7-6
Baadi/Loutit (UK) def. No. 69 Colby/Paulsell (UGA) 6-3
Mahjoob/Perez Pena (UGA) def. Weekes/Rankin (UK) 7-6
Singles
No. 38 Taha Baadi (UK) def. No. 54 Thomas Paulsell (UGA) 7-5, 6-3
No. 99 Joshua Lapadat (UK) def. No. 64 Ryan Colby (UGA) 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2
Niels Ratiu (UGA) def. No. 124 Jaden Weekes (UK) 6-4, 6-1
Charlelie Cosnet (UK) def. No. 120 Miguel Perez Pena (UGA) 6-4, 7-5
Jack Loutit (UK) vs. Cyrus Mahjoob (UGA) 3-6, 0-3 (uf)
Eli Stephenson (UK) vs. Filipe Costa (UGA) 6-1, 2-3 (uf)
Order of Finish:
Doubles— 2, 3, 1
Singles— 3, 1, 4, 2*
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