Kentucky Men’s Tennis Eyeing Another Deep NCAA Tournament Run
The Kentucky Wildcat men’s tennis team begins their dual match spring schedule on Wednesday, January 18 in Lexington, KY against Dayton.
Fresh off a runner-up finish last season — the deepest in school history — the ‘Cats are poised to make another run in May. Liam Draxl (court 1), Josh Lapadat (court 5) and JJ Mercer (court 6) return from last year’s singles lineup. Transfers Alafia Ayeni (Cornell) and Taha Baadi (Wake Forest) will be immediate contributors.
Draxl, an ITA All-American who has been ranked as high as No. 1 in college tennis and clinched last year’s semifinal victory over Ohio State, and Ayeni, who played number 1 singles at Cornell, are expected to give UK one of the best 1-2 top of the lineup combinations in the country. Lapadat, who went 21-4 in dual matches last season, will be one of the best middle-of-the-lineup players around.
The Wildcats check in at #4 in the ITA preseason team rankings, their highest preseason ranking in school history. The Cracked Rackets podcast network, which covers college tennis, has the Wildcats ranked #8 in their preseason rankings. They said the ‘Cats would have been as high as number 2 had Gabriel Diallo elected to return. Diallo, who played number 2 singles last season, decided to turn pro after a red-hot summer of pro tournaments.
The success of Diallo will likely pay dividends on the recruiting trail. The coaching staff of Cedric Kauffmann and Matthew Gordon can point to his improvement, noting that young players can come to UK and become the next Diallo.
Shortly after Diallo announced he was turning pro, another Canadian (Draxl, Lapadat, and Diallo all hail from Canada) Jaden Weekes, committed to Kentucky and will start this spring. Millen Hurrion (court 3) and Francois Musitelli (court 4) graduated and will be missed.
As usual, the schedule will be challenging. Kentucky’s three toughest matches are all on the road with trips to No. 1 Virginia, No. 6 Tennessee, and No. 7 Georgia. Virginia, which defeated Kentucky in the finals last year, is likely the team to beat again this season.
The home schedule includes several good teams including Illinois, Duke, No. 10 South Carolina, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Arkansas. The ‘Cats will host the first two rounds of the ITA kickoff weekend January 28 and January 29. Looking ahead to May, the first three rounds are scheduled for campus sights (high seeds get to host) with the final three rounds scheduled for Orlando, FL.
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Kentucky had a solid 1 through 5 singles last season; they swept courts 1 through 4 in both the NCAA quarterfinal (4-3 over TCU) and semifinal (4-1 over Ohio State) wins last May. I expect the ‘Cats to be strong at the top again this season. Finding consistency at the bottom of the order and improving in doubles could be the difference between having a good season versus a great one this year.
Key Players Back
Canadians Liam Draxl and Josh Lapadat have been mainstays in the lineup the past few seasons and will be counted on to be key contributors again. Huntington, WV native JJ Mercer played court six last season after transferring from Ohio State. He will be challenged by some newcomers this season but may remain in the top six again this year. Another Canadian, Alexandre LeBlanc, who mostly played doubles last season, also returns.
Key Losses
Diallo, who played court 2 last season, has been ranked as high as 224 in the world this fall and made a deep run in last year’s NCAA singles championship. He is also playing in the Davis Cup for his home country of Canada. Hurrion and Musitelli, who played court 3 and court 4 last season, respectively, both graduated.
Impact Newcomers
Ayeni (Cornell) and Baadi (Wake Forest) will both be counted on to produce in the everyday lineup. Ayeni currently has the highest professional ranking of anyone in college tennis. Baadi will likely play either on court 3 or court 4. Freshmen Jaden Weeks and Charlelie Cosnet are each expected to have a big impact this season. Weeks was ranked #21 in the world juniors while Cosnet, of France, went 6-1 in matches during the fall season.
Kentucky men’s tennis 2023 schedule
Home regular season matches are free of charge at the UK Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on UK’s campus.
Wednesday, January 18 | 11:00 AM vs Dayton
Wednesday, January 18 | 2:00 PM vs Dayton
Saturday, January 21 | 1:00 PM vs Illinois
Tuesday, January 24 | 12:00 PM vs Northern Kentucky
Friday, January 27 | 1:00 PM vs Liberty (ITA Kick-off Weekend)
Saturday, January 28 | TBD vs Notre Dame/Washington (ITA Kick-off Weekend)
Friday, February 3 | 5:00 PM at Virginia
Sunday, February 5 | 11:00 AM at Virginia Tech
Friday, February 10 | 5:00 PM vs Louisville
Sunday, February 12 | 12:00 PM vs Duke
Thursday, February 16 – Sunday, February 19 | ITA – National Indoors (Chicago)
Thursday, March 2 | 5:00 PM vs South Carolina
Saturday, March 4 | 2:00 PM at Texas A&M
Thursday, March 9 | 5:00 PM vs LSU
Saturday, March 11 | 1:00 PM vs Arkansas
Thursday, March 16 | 4:00 PM at Auburn
Saturday, March 18 | 2:00 PM at Alabama
Friday, March 24 | 5:00 PM vs. Ole Miss
Sunday, March 26 | 1:00 PM vs Mississippi State
Friday, March 31 | 5:00 PM at Georgia
Sunday, April 2 | 4:00 PM at Knoxville
Sunday, April 9 | 12:00 PM vs Vanderbilt
Friday, April 14 | 5:00 PM at Florida
Friday, March 24 | 5:00 PM vs Ole Miss
Wednesday, April 19 – Sunday, April 22 | SEC Tournament
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