Kentucky men’s tennis (9-4) soundly defeated South Carolina (8-4) by a score of 4-2 in an SEC home matchup on March 2.

After being swept by Florida in their previous match in what could only be described as a thrashing, the Wildcats bounced back in short order.

“I think that (Florida) was the worst match we have had since I’ve been here, and that’s on me,” Head Coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “Today was a test of character.”

That test got off to a rough start as Kentucky dropped the doubles point, and, with a record of 2-3 after losing doubles, it would be natural for concern to set in, but positivity is paramount to success.

“They have to connect… our players were playing good,” Kauffmann said. “I don’t think we played great, but they were connecting, they were cheering on each other.”

The connections led to resilience and a comeback that would see the Cats pass their test of character with flying colors.

The French duo of No. 69 Antoine Ghibaudo and No. 121 Charlelie Cosnet were a part of that connection. After losing their doubles match, both players would go on to win their sets in similarly resilient fashion.

Ghibaudo got out to an early 3-0 lead in his first set before that lead was quickly erased and turned into 5-4. Not to be flustered, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week battled out the set and won the set with scores of 7-5 and 6-3.

Cosnet, on the other hand, took an early loss in his match against no. 68 Sean Daryabeigi. After starting on the back foot losing 6-3, Cosnet would storm back to complete the comeback with scores of 6-2 and 6-3.

With No. 66 Jaden Weekes winning his match as well, the Wildcats had completely shifted the momentum and took a commanding 3-1 lead.

On court three, UK would take its only other loss of the afternoon as No. 81 Jack Loutit lost to No. 110 Connor Thomson 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 as the Gamecocks brought the score to 3-2.

Matt Rankin would seal the deal for Kentucky, winning his match with decisive scores of 6-3 and 6-2, getting the win for his team and leaving the last remaining match unfinished.

The Wildcats have a five-day break between games to get fresh legs, but that break brings its own challenges and demands to stay in the right space.

“We practice like we play, so I expect them on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, to have that same energy as today,” said Kauffmann.

The Wildcats will try and maintain that energy as they head to Athens to take on Georgia on Friday, March 7.