Kentucky men's tennis falls short in Athens; SEC championship in question

No. 4 Kentucky had to swallow a tough loss atop of the SEC standings on Thursday night in Athens. The Wildcats fell 5-2 to No. 8 Georgia and now drop to 19-3 (7-2) on the season. While a top-10 loss on the road isn’t the end of the world, the ‘Cats just made their SEC regular season title hopes very bleak. With the win, Georgia remains in solo first place in the conference and extended its lead over challengers like Kentucky.

A good amount of streaks were broken as the ‘Cats reached the finish line on the road. The first being a seven-match win streak. Kentucky was also perfect this season in road matches before Thursday. Georgia hit UK early, claiming an all-important doubles point. One of the many secrets to Kentucky’s impressive run as of late was snagging that doubles point, which they had done seven-straight times during the seven-match win streak. Not too many coincidences there, right?

JJ Mercer and Joshua Lapadat were able to win their opening doubles set 6-3. However, the one victory wouldn’t be enough considering Kentucky’s No. 1 and No. 3 pairing were defeated. Even more brutal was that there were match points on both courts that would’ve put the ‘Cats up 1-0. Instead, Georgia rallied and won both matches, giving them a 1-0 lead going into singles. The top doubles pairing of Taha Baadi and Alafia Ayeni saw their six-match win streak snapped in Athens.

Many broken streaks on the afternoon. Not ideal.

Not much to show in Kentucky’s singles

Singles were a nightmare for Kentucky. If there was one thing to be uber-confident in, it’s this squad’s singles ability. Thursday just looked different. The Wildcats won a couple of sets against Georgia early, but the Bulldogs made sure to win the sets that mattered.

Ayeni was the first domino to fall during singles, losing in straight-sets 4-6, 3-6. Liam Draxl also fell in straight sets and Kentucky was in a massive hole looking to be swept. Baadi wasn’t victorious either. At least his effort came across three sets, where he was able to steal a set vs. UGA’s Blake Croyder. Baadi’s final score was 2-6, 7-5, 3-6. After those three matches, the Bulldogs had already clinched the match. In fact, it was the fastest that Kentucky has lost all year. Granted they’ve only lost three times now, but never in the first four matches of the contest. I suppose that’s what happens when Draxl, Ayeni, and Baadi go winless. That’s your No. 1 doubles pairing and your No. 1 singles (Draxl). Bottom line, that can’t happen if this team wants to go deep in the tournament.

On the bright side, Kentucky was able to salvage two points before the match ended. Lapadat was the only Wildcat to pick up two wins on the evening, as he won in two sets 7-6 (5), 7-6(5). He was followed by another Wildcat win. Jaden Weekes was able to get on the board with a three-set 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 victory. Even though Georgia had clinched, the ‘Cats brought it to within 4-2.

Weekes (UK) def. Giusca (UGA) 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 ✅

UK 2 | UGA 4#WeAreUK 🎾😺🔵 pic.twitter.com/0vdH9t08UD

— Kentucky Men's Tennis (@UKMensTennis) April 1, 2023

In the final match of the evening, freshman Charlelie Cosnet was unsuccessful across three sets. The Frenchman lost 5-7, 6-3, 3-6. At the end of the night, Kentucky was outlasted 5-2. The SEC regular season crown may be out of reach for the Wildcats.

Bounce back opportunity

Kentucky does have a huge spot on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The ‘Cats travel to Knoxville, for a back-to-back SEC test. No. 14 Tennessee provides the opportunity for a fourth top-15 win for the Wildcats this campaign. There is still plenty to play for.

There are going to be big games down the road for Kentucky. The SEC is an incredibly deep league this season, it was never a shock that the ‘Cats would have challengers on their quest to a crown. Let’s see how this squad can respond to a tough loss. UK hasn’t lost two in a row all season long, just saying.