No. 2 Kentucky men's tennis finishes 2-1 in Windy City weekend
Three ranked opponents, three overall matches, all over the course of three days. No. 2 Kentucky men’s tennis knew their work was cut out for them this weekend in Chicago at the 2023 ITA National Indoor Championships. Now that the ‘Cats were bounced on Sunday afternoon in the semifinals by No. 3 TCU, let’s talk about the weekend as a whole.
With a 10-0 record, Kentucky traveled north before competition began. They left the tournament 12-1. The ‘Cats saw more ranked opponents this weekend than they had in their first 10 matches combined. The level of tennis was certainly raised this past weekend. However, it’s not like Kentucky walked in with a cupcake of a schedule. This is a squad that rallied off four-straight ACC wins, one coming against then-No. 1 ranked Virginia and another coming against top-25 Louisville.
In Chicago, three ranked opponents would await the Wildcats: No. 15 Florida, No. 7 USC, and No. 3 TCU. Florida came on Friday, the Trojans on Saturday, then finally TCU on Sunday.
Kentucky looked comfortable out of the gate versus its SEC foe, but as the ‘Cats got deeper into the dance, the matches only got harder.
No early exits
Kentucky deserved to be in the ITA Indoors. They showed just that with a dominating performance on Friday over the Gators. In a match where the Wildcats had control from start to finish, they were able to cruise past Florida 4-1.
The doubles point went UK’s way, which hasn’t always been the case this season. Kentucky followed up with stellar individual performances already up 1-0 in the match. Liam Draxl showed why he’s an ITA All-American and the 2021 ITA Player of the Year. He won his doubles match with Jaden Weekes and then torched Florida’s Axel Nefve 6-0, 6-0 singles. Perfection from the senior.
Joshua Lapadat and Charlelie Cosnet were also able to take care of business and just like that, Kentucky was into the quarterfinals. While Florida is the reigning SEC champion in tennis, it looks like the top spot in the conference is shifting.
Kentucky earned back-to-back doubles points to start the ITA Indoors. The second time, it came against USC in the quarterfinals. Alafia Ayeni and Taha Baadi led the charge in No. 1 doubles, winning their match 6-4. Draxl and Weekes were able to pull off a doubles win as well. That doubles point proved to be vital.
The Trojans wouldn’t back down when singles play rolled around. Baadi won in straight-sets 7-5, 6-3 and Kentucky was up 2-0 overall. This wouldn’t last long, however. USC stormed back in singles, winning three straight matches and eventually needing one more singles point to send the ‘Cats packing.
Cosnet came up massive for Kentucky, leveling the match up at three apiece. The freshman Frenchman has this clutch gene in him that is hard to miss. Saturday wasn’t the first time this season that the Wildcats have relied on him to get a point. Don’t believe me? The man from Le Mans is 6-1 in singles this season.
With Kentucky’s tournament fate on the line, Lapadat came through. After dropping the first set, the junior rallied back with two dominant sets and sent UK to the Final Four. Lapadat won 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. The complete turnaround. Sometimes three sets are more fun than two.
The hunted, not the hunters
That may be the case from now on. Kentucky is no longer the new kid on the block. They’ve shown that they belong. Not only this season, but this goes back to the tournament last year where they shocked everyone and finished as NCAA Tournament runners-up.
The Wildcats had four ranked wins and entered the battle vs. TCU with an unblemished 12-0 record. This was going to be a war. The Horned Frogs knew this tournament better than anyone — they won the ITA Indoors last season.
Kentucky wasn’t able to capture the doubles point this time and would have to work from behind. Keep an eye on these important doubles points that will be up for grabs as the ‘Cats move into SEC play in about a week. UK has dropped four doubles points this year and while their individual performances in singles will most of the time be able to get them over the line, it isn’t ideal falling behind early in matches.
That’s exactly what happened on Sunday against TCU.
Draxl gave Kentucky hope after Weekes lost in straight sets. Talk about a man on fire, Liam Draxl had a heck of a weekend in Chicago. If you’ve forgotten about him, shame on you. Draxl continues to display why he’s one of the best singles players in the country.
With TCU up 3-1 and things looking bleak for the ‘Cats, Lapadat came up big for the second day in a row. He won his second straight three-set singles match, this time 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. But Cosnet, who had to extend the match for Kentucky to keep its pulse, couldn’t. The clutchness wore off a little bit, but the young man showed incredible fight by forcing his match into a decisive third set.
TCU would advance via its 4-2 win and Kentucky would pack its belongings. The undefeated dream is no more, but not without two massive dubs on the weekend. The ‘Cats can hang with the big boys and showed they can beat them as well. When they get the doubles point, there is nobody that should scare this squad considering the brilliance they are able to display during singles.
So yes, I’ll stand with that. No longer the hunters, but the hunted.
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