Kentucky Concludes Season in NCAA Quarterfinals
STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 5 Kentucky men’s tennis (27-3) fell to No. 4 TCU (26-4) in the NCAA quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
The Wildcats rallied in the doubles contest but came up short, giving TCU the first lead of the match. Taha Baadi and Jack Loutit were the first pair to finish against the Horned Frogs duo of Jack Pinnington and Sebastian Gorzny, 3-6. On court three Jaden Weekes and Eli Stephenson pushed back from a 1-5 deficit to bring the set within one at 4-5. They ultimately could not close it out, falling to TCU’s Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted, 4-6.
The Cats could not shift the momentum in the singles session as TCU took a lead in the first set on all courts but court six. In need of some comeback magic, Kentucky would need to force a third set on three courts to stay in Stillwater. Sophomore Charlelie Cosnet slipped to No. 78 Lui Maxted, 3-6, 1-6. With TCU up a break on every court, Loutit dropped his match to No. 77 Gorzny, 4-6, 4-6. Finally, Baadi fell to No. 13 Pinnington, 4-6, 3-6 to close the match.
Kentucky ended the season with an impressive overall record of 27-3 which marks the fewest losses in a season since 1970. The Wildcats also grabbed two titles, first the outright regular season title and secondly, the SEC tournament championship title. This match marked Kentucky’s third elite eight appearance, the most consecutive appearances in the national quarterfinals in program history.
Baadi, Lapadat and Mercer will remain in Stillwater for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, May 20-25. Lapadat and Mercer are the No. 3 seed in the doubles draw, while Baadi will represent the Wildcats in singles.
RESULTS
No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 4 TCU
Doubles
No. 4 Lapadat/Mercer (UK) vs. No. 63 Fearnley/Vives (TCU): 4-5, unfinished
Pinnington/Gorzny (TCU) def. Baadi/Loutit (UK): 6-3
Chan/Maxted (TCU) def. Stephenson/Weekes (UK): 4-6
Singles
No. 13 Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. No. 28 Taha Baadi (UK): 6-4, 6-3
No. 80 Joshua Lapadat (UK) vs. No. 7 Jake Fearnley (TCU): 3-6, 5-6, unfinished
Jaden Weekes (UK) vs. No. 73 Pedro Vives (TCU): 5-7, 4-4, unfinished
No. 78 Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Charlelie Cosnet (UK): 6-3, 6-1
No. 77 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. Jack Loutit (UK): 6-4, 6-4
Eli Stephenson (UK) vs. Tomas Jirousek (TCU): 7-5, 3-2, unfinished
Order of Finish:
Doubles— 2, 3*
Singles— 4, 5, 1*
For the latest on UK Men’s Tennis, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKMensTennis.
