Kentucky men’s tennis has wrapped up its regular season play and will now shift its focus to a difficult road ahead in arguably the best tennis conference: the SEC.
The Wildcats finished 9-3 in SEC play last season and won the SEC tournament 4-3 in a riveting match over the Georgia Bulldogs.
That tournament run included two revenge matches as Georgia and Tennessee defeated Kentucky in the regular season, but were unable to get past the Cats when it mattered most.
This year, the SEC looks just as difficult as last season as the conference holds six of the ITA top 15 rankings, with No. 28 Vanderbilt sitting close.
Instead of last season’s dynamic duo of Liam Draxl and Alafia Ayeni, Kentucky will be led by captains Taha Baadi and Josh Lapadat who are a combined 8-6 in singles play on the year.
The top conference opponents this year include No. 5 Tennessee, No. 11 Texas A&M, No.15 South Carolina, No. 19 Alabama and No. 24 Mississippi State.
“The SEC is always tough,” associate head coach Matthew Gordon said. “I mean, anyone can be anyone on any day. So, take it one match at a time and see what happens.”
Kentucky will kick off SEC play on March 1, in Nashville, Tennessee, to take on Vanderbilt – a match that the Cats should be heavy favorites to win.
They will then return home to take on Alabama, the team that knocked Kentucky out of qualifying for ITA National Indoors and handed the team its first loss of the season at the end of January.
The Wildcats’ match against Florida could pose some unexpected problems for Kentucky, No. 41 doubles pair Tanapatt Nirundorn and Adhithya Ganesan are 6-2 this season. Florida has been historically great in the SEC and won the title just a season before the Cats.
In the same weekend, Kentucky will face an unthreatening LSU and its first conference play powerhouse in No. 24 Mississippi State. Mississippi will be led by No. 23 singles player Petar Jovanovic who has plenty of experience this season, going 17-9 thus far.
Kentucky will then return home to host No. 11 Texas A&M. Texas A&M features four singles players ranked in the ITA Top 100, and the doubles pair of Tiago Pires and Raphael Perot, who are No. 57 in the country.
This will be the highest ranked SEC team the Wildcats will have faced up to this point.
After this marquee matchup, Kentucky will host Auburn just days later. The Tigers aren’t a team to take lightly after nearly upsetting Kentucky last year in a 4-3 win for the Cats.
The Wildcats will then travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Cats, who have struggled on the road this season, will be facing an experienced team, with only three losses on the season.
This marks Kentucky’s first match of a three-match road trip.
Continuing the road stretch, the team will travel to Oxford, Mississippi, to face off against Ole Miss – a match that should be fairly quick for the Wildcats.
Before they return home, Kentucky will cap off its road trip with South Carolina. This matchup is a toss up of sorts, due to the Gamecocks’ inconsistent play thus far.
South Carolina was at one point ranked No. 2, but is currently outside of the Top 25 due to its 2-4 record against ranked opponents.
Mark your calendars for Sunday, Apr. 14, as Kentucky will return home for its final match of SEC play against its rivals, the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers. The Volunteers are led by Johannus Monday, who is No. 8 in singles and No. 9 in doubles alongside his partner Angel Diaz.
Kentucky has hosted two ranked opponents inside the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex, No. 3 Virginia and No. 8 Harvard, and won both.
The path ahead of the Wildcats will be a true testing ground for the No. 6 team in the country.
”We’re all very close and we know the goal,” freshman Matthew Rankin said. “When we’re all together, we can only generate success.”
The SEC Tournament host site will be in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and will begin on Thursday, Apr. 17, where Kentucky will look to be back-to-back tournament champions.
