Kentucky men's tennis edges out Tennessee, advances to SEC Championship
No. 5 Kentucky men’s tennis just won its biggest match of the season. In a three-and-a-half hour marathon, the ‘Cats prevailed 4-3 over the Volunteers. A match that gave the viewer all the emotions came in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. Kentucky is now moving on to the final day in Auburn, Alabama.
Earlier this month, Kentucky found themselves with a tough trip back to Lexington. The Wildcats had just been swept 4-0 in Knoxville. UK made sure to exorcise every last demon from that day Saturday afternoon. Unless both squads meet again the NCAA Tournament, there wasn’t a better time to exact revenge on Tennessee. Both teams couldn’t meet in the SEC Tournament championship considering they were on the same half.
This match wasn’t your ordinary college tennis affair. There were lead changes and drama upon until the final point. Kentucky should’ve known the rollercoaster of a match they were in for after seeing just how strong the ‘Vols are. That rollercoaster was survived. The ‘Cats learned their lesson and now they find themselves in the championship game of the SEC Tournament.
Heart rate check?
For the second day in a row, Kentucky got off to a hot start via doubles play. The No. 1 pairing of Alafia Ayeni and Taha Baadi were quickly humbled. Luckily for them, their boys had their backs. On court three Liam Draxl and Jaden Weekes got to work early. They kept a firm hold in the set and went on to win 6-2. An all-important doubles duel on court two would determine who’d get the first point. JJ Mercer and Joshua Lapadat’s match wasn’t a short one. It was in the tiebreaker where Lapadat and Mercer just got over the line. They got off to a good tiebreak start, up 4-2 and then finished it up winning three out of four points. The final set score was 7-6 and Kentucky was up 1-0 in the match.
Singles action started off to a wild start. Some Wildcats had commanding leads, where others would be forced to come from behind. The freshman, Weekes, started off hot by cruising to win his first set. Ayeni on the other hand had lost his first set. ITA All-American, Draxl, squeezed past his opponent in the first set, 6-4. Oddly enough those weren’t any of the matches that finished first.
The Frenchman, Charlelie Cosnet, was defeated in straight-sets and the overall match score was tied at one. It then got uglier for the Wildcats. Ayeni’s match was the next one to finish and he wasn’t on the right end of it. He was put out in straight sets as well, 7-5, 3-6. Perhaps the only negative of the afternoon for Kentucky was Ayeni’s 0-2 day. The Wildcats trailed for the first time in the match.
Kentucky got that lead back
Like a tennis ball between a golden doodle’s teeth, the lead was retrieved. Lapadat held his own on court three, winning his match in straight sets. His 6-4, 7-5 victory tied the match up 2-2. The match was truly in the balance after Lapadat’s dub.
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Next, it was Draxl’s time to answer the call. Kentucky’s No. 1 singles option won his match 6-4, 6-4 and the ‘Cats had regained their lead. Up 3-2, UK had some drama awaiting them. Despite Weekes’ dominant first set, Tennessee’s Angel Diaz had the last laugh. Diaz rallied off two sets in a row and won that match over the course of three sets. So what did that result mean? Only that the overall match was tied 3-3 and one match remained. Drama? No, just SEC tennis.
What if I told you that in Kentucky’s most decisive match of the year, the hero would be someone who got to campus less than a year ago? Alafia Ayeni was playing college tennis for Cornell last season and today he was UK’s savior. The fifth-year senior from San Diego came through in the biggest way imaginable.
Ayeni lost his first set 6-1. He battled back to win two consecutive sets. Ayeni was forced into a tiebreaker in the second set and barely won it 7-5. Just to think if a couple of those points go a different way, Kentucky would be on its way home. However, that wasn’t the case. In the third set, Ayeni was victorious 6-4 and the ‘Cats had gone on to defeat Tennessee 4-3. What a thriller.
The ‘ship
Kentucky finds itself in the SEC Tournament championship match because of stellar play over two days. While the opponent still remains unknown, the Wildcats should be proud of their efforts so far in the conference tourney.
It’ll either be Georgia or Texas A&M for a conference title. Kentucky beat the Aggies 4-3 early on in the season and lost to the ‘Dogs in Athens. It’ll be a dogfight regardless (no pun intended), but the ‘Cats are built for those. This is a team who was expected to be in this position. They’ve been battle tested throughout the year and have shown why they belong among the best. My advice to you is the following. Get those Sunday errands out of the way early, because at 3:30 p.m. Kentucky is playing for a championship. Welcome (again) to tennis in the Southeastern Conference. It’s almost Championship Sunday!
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