Men’s Tennis Central: #18 Tennessee at Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The 18th-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team heads south for a road match against Alabama on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET.

It marks the first of a two-match road swing this weekend for the Vols and Tennessee's second SEC road tilt of the season.

Thursday's match will be streamed live online via SEC Network+ and the ESPN app, with Cracked Racquets providing whiparound coverage. Live stats provided by Alabama can be found here. The match can also be watched via Track Tennis here.

LAST TIME OUT
Tennessee logged a pair of 6-1 routs last weekend, defeating Vanderbilt and LSU in its first two home SEC matches of the year.

SCOUTING ALABAMA
Tennessee (11-5, 2-1 SEC) and Alabama (9-7, 1-2 SEC) meet for the 67th time in series history Thursday, with UT holding a 50-16 advantage all-time. The series commenced in 1930. Tennessee has won 26 of the past 29 meetings with the Tide, including seven straight since 2017.

Alabama opened SEC play with a 6-1 home loss to then-ninth-ranked Georgia. This past weekend, the Crimson Tide fell 7-0 to No. 5 South Carolina on the road, 7-0, before upsetting No. 16 Florida in Gainesville, 4-3. Alabama's Filip Planinsek holds an 8-4 dual singles record at the No. 1 lineup position this spring.

Last season, the Vols defeated the Tide twice in a seven-day span, earning a 7-0 sweep of Alabama in the second-to-last match of the regular season, before logging a 4-0 victory over the Crimson Tide in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

VOLS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#7 – Johannus Monday
#62 – Emile Hudd
#120 – Shunsuke Mitsui

Doubles
#4 – Pat Harper/Johannus Monday
#50 – Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui

CRIMSON TIDE IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#63 – Enzo Aguiard

JO MOMENTUM
• Johannus Monday, a two-time ITA Singles All-American, is a combined 22-2 in dual singles and doubles matches this spring. At 11-1 in singles and 11-1 on the doubles courts this spring, 16 of those 22 total wins are at the No. 1 lineup spot (8-1 at No. 1 singles and 8-1 at No. 1 doubles). Monday is one of four players in the nation to currently be ranked inside the ITA's top five in doubles and top 10 in singles.

HISTORY IN SIGHT
• Pat Harper, with 87 career overall doubles wins at Tennessee, is eight wins away from cracking the top-10 on the program's all-time doubles wins list. Should he reach 100 career doubles wins by season's end, he would become just the ninth Vol to ever do so in a career.

RANKED VOLS
• With the ITA's March 7 update of its singles and doubles rankings, Tennessee has had either a top-10 singles acclaim or a top-10 doubles pair in 18 of the past 19 dual-season rankings updates, dating to March 24, 2021. This week, UT has a top-10 ranking in singles and doubles. Monday is ranked No. 7 in singles and the duo of Monday and Harper comes in at No. 4 in doubles.

QUICK HITTERS
• Emile Hudd is riding a career-long doubles winning streak of seven matches. Six of the seven wins in the streak have been alongside Shunsuke Mitsui. Since arriving on Rocky Top in the fall of 2021, Hudd and Mitsui are 35-13 as a doubles pair.
• Tennessee is 29-7 (.806) in dual doubles matches this spring and has won the doubles point in 14 of its 16 matches this season.
• With three individuals (Monday, Hudd and Mitsui) having played at the position, the Vols are 12-2 at the No. 1 singles slot this dual season.
• The Vols are 9-0 this year when collecting a point at the No. 5 singles spot. Angel Diaz leads the team in wins at that spot, with a 4-1 record at No. 5 this spring.

TUSCALOOSA FACTS
• Tuscaloosa is one day older than the state of Alabama. Tuscaloosa was incorporated on December 13, 1819, and Alabama officially became a state the next day.
• With a 2023 population of 102,339, Tuscaloosa is the fifth-largest city in Alabama.

UP NEXT
Tennessee travels to Athens for a battle with No. 10 Georgia Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

For the most up-to-date information about the program, follow Tennessee men's tennis on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Angel Diaz

Pat Harper

Emile Hudd

Shunsuke Mitsui

Johannus Monday

University of Tennessee Athletics