By Yan Wang

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UK men’s tennis defeated No. 1 Ohio State 4-1 on Wednesday at the Boone Varsity Tennis Center.

The victory marks the fourth time in program history that UK beat a No. 1-ranked team.

“We have a lot of respect for them,” UK head coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “We knew it was going to take everybody in the lineup for us to beat Ohio State.”

The Cats took a 1-0 lead after doubles play. Sophomore Beck Pennington and senior Alejandro Gomez came back from 5-0 deficits to win on a tiebreaker, 8-7 (6). Senior Ryuji Hirooka and freshman Nils Ellefsen also used a tiebreaker to win, 8-7 (4).

“The doubles’ first 20 minutes was not very good. I was a little worried,” Kauffmann said. “But (Pennington and Gomez) were down 5-0 and bounced back.”

Gomez defeated Ohio State freshman Herkko Pollanen, 6-2, 6-2, in a singles match to give UK a 2-1 overall advantage.

Pennington picked up his second win of Wednesday’s matches, defeating Ohio State sophomore Chris Diaz, 6-4, 6-4, to increase the Cats’ overall lead to 3-1.

UK senior Tom Jomby finished off Ohio State, overturning a 1-0 deficit to win, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Jomby got upset by some of the referee’s calls in the first set, but he relaxed his demeanor in the final two sets.

“We know Tom is one of the best players in the country when he shuts his mouth,” Kauffmann said.

The Cats will play next against South Carolina at 4 p.m. Friday in Lexington.