No. 6 Kentucky mens tennis triumphs 4-2 over Vanderbilt on senior day
Kentucky Wildcats senior Liam Draxl celebrates after scoring a point during the No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 6 South Carolina mens tennis match on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at the Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Kentucky. South Carolina won 4-3. Photo by Samuel Colmar | Staff
April 9, 2023
No. 6 Kentucky mens tennis took down the Vanderbilt Commodores on Sunday, securing a 4-2 win on senior night.
The victory marked the 20th regular season win for the Cats with a little over a week left before entering the SEC tournament.
Before the matchup, six Wildcats seniors were recognized, including Alafia Ayeni, Liam Draxl, Alexandre LeBlanc, JJ Mercer, Heman Nama and Jonathan Sorbo.
The Commodores started by securing the doubles point with wins on court one and two, defeating the duos of No. 25 Ayeni and Taha Baadi as well as No. 66 Joshua Lapadat and Mercer.
Going into singles, Vanderbilt held the advantage, yet Kentucky managed to take charge and turn the game around.
Draxl started with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Vanderbuilt’s Nathan Cox, while Charlie Cosnet followed by securing a second win for the Cats, 6-1, 6-4 on court six.
Ayeni took on Joubert Klopper on court two, winning 7-5, 6-4, and to take the final win was Taha Baadi, taking down Siim Troost 7-6 (7), 6-2.
With the score 4-2, the game ended with another Kentucky win.
The Cats will hit the road this week to play in their final match of the regular season against the Florida Gators in Gainesville, Florida, at 5 p.m EST.
Mim Saurers • Apr 19, 2023 at 1:45 pm
Great reporting and congrats to the UK Men’s Tennis team!