Men’s Tennis Central: Tennessee vs. Kentucky

AUBURN, Ala. – The ninth-ranked and No. 2 seed Tennessee men's tennis team continues play at the SEC Tournament Saturday, facing No. 3 seed Kentucky at 1 p.m. ET in the semifinals.

Tennessee (21-6) holds a nine-match winning streak entering Saturday's semifinal showdown.

Saturday's action will be streamed live online via SEC Network+ and the ESPN app. Live stats for the match can be accessed here.

LAST TIME OUT
The Vols handled Ole Miss, 4-0, Friday afternoon in the quarterfinal round.

SCOUTING KENTUCKY
Tennessee faces off against Kentucky for the 116th time in series history, with the Vols holding a 68-47 all-time advantage over the Wildcats, dating to 1930.

Earlier this month, on April 2, Tennessee routed then-fourth-ranked Kentucky in Knoxville, 4-0. A win for the Vols Saturday would put them in the SEC tournament championship match in three of the last four tournaments.

The Wildcats swept No. 11 seed Alabama Friday, 4-0, in the quarterfinals.

VOLS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#2 – Johannus Monday
#32 – Emile Hudd

Doubles
#5 – Pat Harper/Johannus Monday
#46 – Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui

WILDCATS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#19 – Liam Draxl
#25 – Alafia Ayeni
#56 – Joshua Lapadat

Doubles
#23 – Taha Baadi/Alafia Ayeni
#67 – Joshua Lapadat/JJ Mercer

JO MOMENTUM
• Johannus Monday, a two-time ITA Singles All-American, is a combined 34-5 in dual singles and doubles matches this spring. At 17-2 in singles and 17-3 on the doubles courts, 28 of those 34 total victories are at the No. 1 lineup spot (14-2 at No. 1 singles and 14-3 at No. 1 doubles).
• Monday holds the best singles winning percentage (.895) in the SEC this season with a 17-2 record. In his career, he holds a .875 mark (21-3) at No. 1 singles.

LIVING IN THE RANKINGS
• With the ITA's April 18 update of its singles and doubles rankings, Tennessee has had either a top-10 singles acclaim or a top-10 doubles pair in 23 of the past 24 dual-season rankings updates, dating to March 24, 2021. The Vols not only have each this week, but a pair of top-five rankings with Monday standing at the No. 2 singles ranking and the duo of Monday and Pat Harper coming in at No. 5 in the doubles rankings.

DUBS DUBS
• In 27 matches this year, UT has won the doubles point 24 times. In its 93 matches since the start of the 2021 dual season, Tennessee has won the doubles point 73 times for a .785 clip in that span.

HISTORY IN SIGHT
• Harper, with 93 career overall doubles wins at Tennessee, is two 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.

POETRY IN MOSHUN
• Mitsui is 11-1 at the No. 4 singles lineup position this season and 17-6 in dual singles matches this spring. After going 11-2 at the No. 4 slot last season, Mitsui holds a career record of 22-3 at the position. With his 6-0 win with Emile Hudd Friday at the No. 2 doubles position, Mitsui improves his career record at No. 2 doubles to 30-7 (.811)

QUICK HITTERS
• Having logged 24 overall singles wins a season ago, Diaz already has 27 total singles victories during the 2022-23 campaign.
• Tennessee senior Blaise Bicknell has won six of his last eight completed singles matches.
• This dual season, Emile Hudd is a combined 30-6 at the No. 2 singles and doubles lineup positions.
• The 2022-23 season marks the 36th consecutive season in which Tennessee has had at least one Australian on the roster, dating to the 1987-88 season.

UP NEXT
With a win Friday, Tennessee advances to the SEC Tournament championship match Sunday at approximately 4:30 p.m. ET on SECN.

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

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Players Mentioned

Blaise Bicknell

Pat Harper

Emile Hudd

Shunsuke Mitsui

Johannus Monday

University of Tennessee Athletics