Six Former Wildcats to Play at Lexington Challenger
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Six Kentucky Men’s Tennis alumni will return to the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex once again, as the sextet prepare to compete in the Lexington Challenger, an official stop on the ATP Challenger Tour. The tournament will begin with qualifying on Sunday, July 28 and will culminate with Championship Sunday on August 4.
Gabriel Diallo, Liam Draxl, Joshua Lapadat, JJ Mercer, Taha Baadi, and Enzo Wallart have been drawn into the tournament and will begin their run towards a title on their former home court this week. Lapadat and Wallart will kick off the tournament on Sunday, as they look to punch their ticket into the singles main draw over two rounds of qualifying. Diallo, Draxl, and Baadi were directly entered into the singles main draw, which is set to begin on Monday. In doubles, Mercer and Lapadat, 2024 All-Americans as a pairing, will team up in Lexington once more. Draxl is also entered into the doubles draw, alongside Kelsey Stevenson.
Diallo, who will play in the Chicago Tennis Challenger Singles Final on Sunday before heading to the Bluegrass, returns to Lexington with an ATP ranking of 169. He made his Grand Slam debut earlier this year, qualifying into the main draw at Rolland Garros. The Montreal native was a three-time All-American in his time at Kentucky, helping lead the Wildcats to a program-best runner-up finish in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Draxl, the 2021 ITA National Player of the Year, currently holds a career-high ATP ranking of 232. In November 2023, the Newmarket, Ontario native won his first ATP Challenger in Singles, defeating Dominik Koepfer in Calgary, Alberta. He is a former champion in Lexington, winning the doubles title in 2021. Draxl was named to the All-SEC First Team three times in his career and was a three-time All-American in singles. He was also named to the All-Tournament Team on Kentucky’s 2022 NCAA Tournament run and was a member of the 2023 SEC Tournament Championship squad.
The trio of Baadi, Lapadat, and Mercer all wrapped up their collegiate careers this past season. All three were instrumental in Kentucky’s historic campaign in 2024, as the Wildcats swept the SEC Regular Season and Tournament Championships, along with an advancement to the program’s third-consecutive NCAA Quarterfinal.
Wallart graduated from Kentucky in 2019 after being featured in the lineup for all four years. His career culminated with an all-SEC honor in his senior season, peaking at No. 76 in the ITA rankings. The Frenchman finished his Wildcat career with over fifty singles wins.
A full list of Kentucky entries can be found below:
Taha Baadi (CAN) – Singles (Main Draw)
Gabriel Diallo (CAN) – Singles (Main Draw)
Liam Draxl (CAN) – Singles (Main Draw); Doubles (Main Draw)
Joshua Lapadat (CAN) – Singles (Qualifying); Doubles (Main Draw)
JJ Mercer (USA) – Doubles (Main Draw)
Enzo Wallart (FRA) – Singles (Qualifying)
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