No. 8 Kentucky men’s tennis went 1-2 over the course of three days during the ITA National Men’s Team Indoor Championship held in Dallas, Texas. 

In the first match of the tournament, NC State took an early lead and didn’t relent, defeating Kentucky 4-1 with the Cats’ only point coming off the racket of Antoine Ghibaudo in his defeat of top-20-ranked opponent Braden Shick.

After being jumped by the Wolfpack, the Wildcats’ remaining two matches would be in the consolation bracket against SMU and No. 14 Texas A&M. 

After a one-hour delay from previous matches and determined to not repeat history, the Wildcats pounced on SMU, winning the doubles point and taking the early lead. 

The momentum did not last long, however, as SMU fought back during singles play. 

SMU scored two straight points with Georgi Georgiev defeating No. 95 Charlelie Cosnet on court four and No. 70 Trevor Svajda beating Ghibaudo on the top court.  

The Wildcats would have to battle back from a 2-1 deficit, and they did as they reclaimed the momentum and would go on to win 4-2 with Jack Loutit scoring the clinching point for a team-leading third time this season. 

Day three of the event saw the Aggies and Wildcats engage in a tightly contested doubles bout. 

Losing the first court 6-1, Kentucky bounced back with the French duo of Ghibaudo and Cosnet taking a point on court three. 

The doubles point would come down to court two where Loutit and Eli Stephenson came back from multiple deficits and forced a tiebreaker before running out of steam and falling 7-6 (7-2). 

Despite a pair of singles wins, the Wildcats were unable to recover and lost the match 4-2. 

Kentucky dropped the doubles point in both losses during the tournament, marking the emergence of a pattern. 

The Wildcats are now 6-0 on the season when winning the doubles point, but 1-3 when losing it. All three of the team’s losses have come when the Cats find themselves in an early 1-0 hole. 

Now 1-3 against ranked opponents this season, the Wildcats will look to recover on their return home with a match against No. 13 Mississippi State on Monday, Feb. 24, at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.