Weekend starts now: No. 6 Kentucky men's tennis dominates LSU

There was no stopping No. 6 Kentucky men’s tennis on Thursday night in Lexington. Kentucky got rolling from the start at the Boone Tennis Center in Lexington, KY against the visiting LSU Tigers. The Wildcats now improve to 14-2 (2-1) on the season after tonight’s 6-1 victory.

The ‘Cats have now won back-to-back SEC matches after starting the conference campaign with a loss. Thursday night’s effort looked more like what the Wildcats are supposed to be in SEC play: a battering ram.

Kentucky did in fact batter LSU from the opening. The Wildcats earned the first six points of the match (already clinching the win) after they earned the first four. Maybe there was a sense of urgency to earn the doubles point and completely bury a conference opponent. Kentucky hasn’t been able to do that in its previous two SEC games. They lost against then-No. 6 South Carolina last week and squeaked by against Texas A&M on Saturday.

It’s a mini homestand for the Wildcats who don’t have to move after the LSU tilt. It’ll be Arkansas who comes to the Bluegrass next to take on a hopefully still-hot Kentucky squad.

Shut the door early

That’s exactly what good teams do and Kentucky demonstrated its ability to do this from the get-go.

The No. 1 doubles pairing of Alafia Ayeni and Taha Baadi made no mistakes early, winning their first doubles set 6-2. If this pair can pick up some momentum, the ‘Cats should be able to hang with anyone in the country in doubles. The top tandem set the tone and then Liam Draxl and Jaden Weekes finished off the job. Draxl and Weekes won their doubles match 6-3 to snag Kentucky a 1-0 lead.

#6 🎾 takes the doubles point on this incredible volley from Jaden Weekes. Leads 1-0 over LSU. Won on 1 and 3. 2 was not finished. Ayeni/Baadi won on 1 and Weekes/Draxl won on 3. 2 was unfinished. Usual singles lineup coming up for UK. pic.twitter.com/e5gAy8NX8L

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 9, 2023

Out of the six singles matches, four Wildcats were able to earn a first-set victory, so things were looking extremely positive at the Boone Tennis Center. Freshman Charlelie Cosnet was the first one to win his singles match giving UK a 2-0 overall lead in the match. Cosnet played a tighter first set, which he won 7-5, then cruised to a 6-2 victory in the second. A straight-set success for the Frenchman.

Joshua Lapadat was next to get on the board for Kentucky. Talk about a man on fire, Lapadat has now won seven-consecutive singles matches. A perfect point in the season for him to hit the right strides. He took down LSU’s Chen Dong 6-3, 6-3. The Wildcats were up 3-0 and one point away from a sweep of LSU.

Lapadat earns his seventh-straight singles win!

UK 3 | LSU 0

📺 https://t.co/KG3BqwipE4
📊 https://t.co/9RfEJLHtZU#WeAreUK 😺🔵🎾 pic.twitter.com/LBsXb4nbRE

— Kentucky Men's Tennis (@UKMensTennis) March 10, 2023

Finishing touches

The onslaught that was Kentucky singles then arrived, and LSU was left answerless. Three more Wildcats won their respective singles matches after Lapadat as the teams would play out the remaining matches with the ‘Cats already having secured the victory.

ITA All-American, Liam Draxl, bounced back after dropping his first set. Draxl came back to smoke his opponent, only dropping one game after the first set. The Canadian ended up winning 4-6, 6-0, 6-1. Ayeni also had a three-set victory which put Kentucky up 5-0 in the overall match. Ayeni lost the second set, but was able to win the odd sets.

Weekes went 2-0 in his matches as well after securing a victory in singles. He captured a straight-set win, but not without having to duke it out in the final set. Weekes ended up winning 6-2, 7-6 (4). The only loss of the evening came from Baadi as the night dwindled away. Baadi was tied at a set apiece, but lost on a 10-point tiebreaker. Job done for Kentucky however — a 6-1 win would do the trick.

The Wildcats take on the Razorbacks this Saturday, with the match set to begin at 1 p.m. After the ‘Cats and ‘Hogs face-off, an Alabama road trip awaits Kentucky. Auburn and Alabama are just down the road after this weekend.

Kentucky looked like themselves in Thursday’s win. Now, it’s all about maintaining the momentum as conference play continues to lurk.