#11 Tennessee Cruises Past Louisiana, 4-0 to Begin ITA Kickoff Weekend

Friday, January 27

Knoxville, TN

1 PM

University of Tennessee

Louisiana

#11 Tennessee Cruises Past Louisiana, 4-0 to Begin ITA Kickoff Weekend

January 27, 2023 | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A convincing 4-0 sweep for the No. 11 Tennessee men's tennis team over Louisiana Friday afternoon in Goodfriend Tennis Center moved the Vols one match closer to qualifying for the 2023 ITA National Indoor Championships.

Tennessee (5-2) opened Friday's action with strong doubles play. Shunsuke Mitsui and Tomas Rodriguez were red-hot on court three, earning a clean 6-0 win over Louisiana's William Ribero and Alejo Ferrer Chueca. The Tennessee pair won 67 percent (24/36) of the match's total points and tallied an 81 percent first serve percentage.

On court one, Pat Harper and Johannus Monday improved to 2-0 as a pair all-time, with both wins coming this week. Harper and Monday took down the 30^th-ranked duo of Karlo Kajin and Al Sanchez Gonzalez with a 6-2 triumph. The Tennessee duo won 80 percent of its service points in the win. Emile Hudd and Angel Diaz's doubles match on court two went unfinished, leading 4-3.

In singles play, the Vols took earned a trio of straight-set wins over Louisiana (1-3) on courts six, two and four. Tennessee's Angel Diaz was the first Vol off court in singles, breezing past Ribero in 6-3, 6-1 fashion. A pivotal point of the match came when Diaz held on a deuce point to go up 5-3 in the first set. In set two, Diaz won 73 percent (27/37) of the total points and owned a 75 percent first serve mark.

Mitsui, ranked 59^th in singles, won his second career match at No. 2 singles Friday, after having debuted at the lineup spot Sunday. The sophomore defeated Ferrer Chueca, 6-4, 6-2 to extend Tennessee's lead to 3-0. Mitsui took control of the opening set in the fifth game, not surrounding a point en route to a break, going up 3-2.

After owning the second-most clinches on the team a year ago, #81 Hudd came through with his first clinch of the 2023 dual season Friday, overpowering Karlo Kajin on court four, 6-2, 6-3. Hudd won 62 percent of the points in the match, including 87 percent (20/23) of his first serve points.

Tennessee's matches on courts one, three and five went unfinished, with the Vols taking a set on all but one of those courts.

HUDD WITH THE CLINCH
As Hudd improved to 4-0 at the No. 4 singles spot in his Tennessee career, he clinched match point for the seventh time since arriving on Rocky Top and the first time this dual season.

BAGEL TIME
Mitsui and Rodriguez's 6-0 'bagel' on court three doubles served as Tennessee first bagel on the doubles courts in 2023.

UP NEXT
Tennessee faces Oklahoma Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET at Goodfriend Tennis Center. The winner of that match qualifies for the ITA National Indoor Championships, set for Feb. 17-20 in Chicago, Ill.

RESULTS
Doubles

1. Pat Harper/Johannus Monday (UT) def. #30 Kajin, Karlo/Sanchez Gonzalez, Al (LA) 6-2
2. Emile Hudd/Angel Diaz (UT) vs. Dimitrov, Vasil/Dworak, Kacper (LA) 4-3, unfinished
3. Shunsuke Mitsui/Tomas Rodriguez (UT) def. Ribero, William/Ferrer Chueca, Alejo (LA) 6-0

Order of Finish: (3,1)

Singles

1. Johannus Monday (UT) vs. Sanchez Gonzalez, Al (LA) 4-6, 6-3, unfinished
2. #59 Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Ferrer Chueca, Alejo (LA) 6-4, 6-2
3. #86 Blaise Bicknell (UT) vs. Dimitrov, Vasil (LA) 6-7 (9-11), 3-1, unfinished
4. #81 Emile Hudd (UT) def. Kajin, Karlo (LA) 6-2, 6-3
5. Martim Prata (UT) vs. Dworak, Kacper (LA) 6-3, 3-4, unfinished
6. Angel Diaz (UT) def. Ribero, William (LA) 6-3, 6-1

Order of Finish: (6,2,4)