Tennis Vols Eager to Begin 2023 Season
Fresh off back-to-back appearances at the NCAA national semifinals, the Tennessee men’s tennis team is primed for another run in 2023.
Seven of Tennessee’s nine roster spots are filled by either a graduate student or a senior, with eight countries represented on the nine-man squad. The veteran-laden group returns 77.2% (85/110) of its singles wins from the 2022 dual season.
Head coach Chris Woodruff enters his sixth season at the helm at his alma mater and his 21st year on staff at Tennessee. Woodruff has led the Vols to a 111-31 (.782) record over the past five seasons, surpassing the 100-win mark as a coach in 2022.
Through five seasons, Woodruff’s Vols are without a double-digit loss campaign and have reached consecutive NCAA semifinals for the first time since UT’s three-year run to the semifinals or better in 2000-02.
Prior to Tennessee’s season-opening match against Charlotte in Knoxville on Jan. 8, fans are invited to attend Tennessee’s annual Orange and White Showdown on Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 4 p.m. ET at Goodfriend Tennis Center.
Matches at the intersquad scrimmage begin at 4 p.m. Admission is free and free pizza will be available on the concourse. Spectators will have the opportunity to view the action from on-court seating and a meet and greet will be held following the matches. Fans will have the chance to win prizes following the day’s doubles action.
Tennis parking is located in SC40 at the Kingston Pike Building Parking. Additional parking information can be found HERE.
A complete 2023 roster breakdown is provided below.
Trio Returns for Fifth Year
Pat Harper // Graduate // Brisbane, Australia
Graduate student Pat Harper, hailing from Brisbane, Australia, returns for his fifth and final year of eligibility on Rocky Top in 2023. Harper’s return marks the 36th consecutive year in which Tennessee has had an Aussie on its roster.
After recording an 18-8 doubles mark a season ago, Harper is 77-32 on the doubles courts since arriving in Knoxville and 40-19 in overall singles action. Harper has garnered Doubles All-America status in each of the previous two seasons and won the 2021 NCAA Doubles National Championship with Adam Walton. Harper is 30-12 (.714) at the No. 1 doubles position over the past two dual seasons.
Emile Hudd // Graduate // London, England
Emile Hudd, in his second season on Rocky Top after transferring from Oklahoma State, enters his final season of eligibility having racked up 59 total victories for Tennessee during the 2021-22 season. A 30-10 singles records last year was complemented by a 29-13 mark in doubles competition. Hudd earned 2022 All-SEC Second Team recognition following his debut season with the Vols.
Hudd’s six clinches last season were good for second-most on the team. Four of those clinches came in especially key wins for Tennessee (No. 10 Wake Forest, No. 13 South Carolina and No. 3 Baylor at the ITA Indoor National Championships and at No. 25 Texas A&M)
Martim Prata // Graduate // Lisbon, Portugal
Martim Prata completes the trifecta of Vols who opted to return for a fifth season of eligibility. A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Prata has recorded a 27-12 singles record at the top-three singles slots during his UT career. Overall, Prata has accumulated 117 wins for the Vols, with a 69-45 career singles record and a 48-28 mark on the doubles courts.
In Tennessee’s sweep of Memphis at the ITA Kickoff Weekend last season, Prata clinched the match with a ranked win at the No. 3 singles spot to send the Vols to the ITA Indoor National Championships.
Senior Leadership
Blaise Bicknell // Senior // Kingston, Jamaica
One of two true seniors on Tennessee’s roster, Blaise Bicknell approaches his first spring action in the Orange and White in 2023. A 2021 All-SEC Second Team member while at Florida, Bicknell holds a 56-8 career singles record and a career-best ITA singles ranking of No. 31.
Bicknell’s first action as a Vol came this fall where he logged records of 3-2 in singles and 3-1 on the doubles courts. His 6-3, 6-2 win over Tulsa’s Ezequiel Santalla at the Orlando Fall Shootout was his first victory at Tennessee. Currently, Bicknell holds an unblemished 30-0 career dual singles record.
Angel Diaz // Senior // Manabi, Ecuador
Angel Diaz enters his second season on Rocky Top having logged 34 total victories—24 in singles and 10 in doubles—during his debut season with the Vols in 2021-22. At the No. 4 singles slot last season, Diaz logged a 6-3 (3-1 SEC) mark.
He recorded four wins at No. 5 singles, including the match-clinching point on the road at No. 5 TCU. That win helped push the Vols to a No. 1 national ranking. Diaz finished the year fourth on the team in clinches, with four. In the 2022 fall season, Diaz picked up nine singles wins, including five at the ITA All-American Championships.
Experienced ‘Youth’
Shunsuke Mitsui // Sophomore // Shizuoka, Japan
A sophomore for the Vols in 2023, Shunsuke Mitsui is coming off one of the greatest freshman seasons in Tennessee program history. In 2021-22, Mitsui’s 34 total singles wins tied for the sixth-most all-time by a Tennessee freshman. Equally as impressive were Mitsui’s 32 doubles victories, which ranked third on Tennessee’s all-time freshman list. Additionally, his .810 singles win percentage (34-8) was good for fourth all-time in the Tennessee freshman record books, just edging out current Tennessee head coach Chris Woodruff’s .800 (36-9) mark as a freshman in 1992.
Mitsui clinched match point for the Vols a team-leading eight times during his debut dual season, including his win at the No. 4 singles spot against Baylor to send Tennessee to the NCAA semifinals for a second consecutive season.
The three-time SEC Player of the Week in 2022 took home the ITA Ohio Valley Region Rookie of the Year award, as well as All-SEC Second Team recognition at season’s end.
Johannus Monday // Junior // Hull, England
Johannus Monday enters his third season on Rocky Top having racked up tremendous experience during his first two seasons at Tennessee. Often referred to as “JoMo,” the Hull, England, native has quickly surpassed 100 total wins, holding a 58-18 overall singles record and a 48-20 doubles mark through two seasons.
Monday’s career-high ITA singles ranking is No. 4, which came in March 2022. He has garnered Singles All-America honors in each of his first two collegiate seasons, as well as All-SEC First Team recognition as both a freshman and a sophomore. In his first two seasons, Monday logged 39 combined singles wins at the No. 1 and 2 singles positions.
Monday earned five pro titles since the beginning of the summer, with two coming in singles (ITF M15 South Bend and ITF M25 Decatur) and three in doubles (ITF M25 Champaign, ITF M25 Falun and ITF M25 Sheffield).
Pair of New Faces
Boris Kozlov // Graduate // Pembroke Pines, Florida
Graduate student Boris Kozlov joins the Vols by way of LSU for his fifth and final season of eligibility. With career records of 72-40 (8-3 at Tennessee this fall) in singles and 56-37 (3-3 at Tennessee) in doubles action, Kozlov is primed to bolster Tennessee’s depth this season.
As a senior with the Tigers in 2021-22, Kozlov logged an 18-10 overall singles mark, which included a 16-8 dual match record. He was 3-2 at No. 4 singles, 5-2 at No. 5 and 8-4 at the No. 6 spot. During 2022 fall action as Kozlov donned the Orange and White, he won six of his first seven singles matches as a Vol, with all but one of those victories coming in straight sets.
Tomas Rodriguez // Graduate // Buenos Aires, Argentina
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Rodriguez joins the Vols as a graduate transfer from Chattanooga for the 2023 campaign. Rodriguez enters his fifth collegiate season having tallied 162 total victories, with a singles record of 86-44 (6-3 at Tennessee this fall) and a doubles mark of 76-33 (4-2 at Tennessee).
Rodriguez almost exclusively played at the No. 1 and 2 positions in singles and doubles while at Chattanooga, earning First Team All-SoCon doubles honors in 2021 and Second Team All-SoCon doubles recognition in 2022.