Kentucky tennis hosts Stanford in Saturday Super Regional

No. 4 Kentucky men’s tennis (26-4) welcomes the Stanford Cardinal (16-10) for a Super Regional showdown this Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Boone Tennis Complex.

Kentucky advanced to the round of 16 after defeating Presbyterian and Northwestern a week ago in the first and second rounds. The Wildcats swept the Blue Hose last Friday, before coming from behind to take down Northwestern, 4-3, on Saturday. UK won the doubles point in each of its first two NCAA Tournament matches. The pairings of Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer along with Liam Draxl and Jaden Weekes, each went 2-0 in doubles for the Cats, while Lapadat and Taha Baadi claimed two singles victories apiece during the opening weekend set.

The latest ITA singles rankings feature three Wildcats. Draxl (No. 13) and Alafia Ayeni (No. 18) both reside inside the top-20 nationally, while Lapadat comes in at No. 59. In doubles, Ayeni and Baadi rank 28th in the country and are followed by the pair of Lapadat and JJ Mercer at N0. 67.

Stanford is coming off victories over St. John’s and No. 13 Columbia to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year. The Cardinal have four ranked singles players, led by No. 3 Arthur Fery, No. 15 Nishesh Basavareddy, No. 33 Max Basing and No. 56 Samir Banerjee. Fery, a 2022 ITA All-American and this year’s Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year, leads Stanford with a 17-4 record in dual matches, all on the top court. Freshman Samir Banerjee was named the 2023 Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year and is 15-4 on the dual season in singles.

The Wildcats are hoping to reach the NCAA quarterfinals for the sixth time in program history and for the second-consecutive year. The 2023 quarterfinals, semifinals and team championship will be held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla, May 18-20.

Tickets are on sale now to the general public through UKathletics.com and the UK Ticket Office. Tickets are $10, while children ages 2-19 and seniors 65+ will have a discounted price of $8. All seating is general admission. Children aged 2 and under are admitted free with a paying adult.

Full-time University of Kentucky students may show their valid UK student ID at the ticket trailer outside the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on match day for a free ticket paid for by UK Athletics.

(UK Athletics)