Monday Named SEC Player of the Year, Hudd and Mitsui Garner All-SEC Honors

Three members of the Tennessee men's tennis team have earned postseason honors from the SEC's head coaches, the conference announced Thursday.

Johannus Monday earned the 2023 SEC Player of the Year award and subsequently was selected to the All-SEC First Team, following a stellar junior campaign.

Emile Hudd secured first-team All-SEC honors for the first time in his career, having been a second-team All-SEC selection a year ago.

For the second straight year, Shunsuke Mitsui was selected to the All-SEC Second Team.

Monday is just the fourth Vol in program history to be named SEC Player of the Year and first since 2013. Chris Woodruff (1993), John-Patrick Smith (2010, 2011) and Mikelis Libietis (2013) also took home the coveted award.

Monday also becomes the 16th player in program history to achieve All-SEC honors in three different seasons, earning first team recognition in each of his first three years at Tennessee.

Monday is a combined 35-6 in dual singles and doubles matches this spring. At 17-3 in singles and 18-3 on the doubles courts, 29 of those 35 total victories came at the No. 1 lineup spot—14-3 at No. 1 singles and 15-3 at No. 1 doubles. Monday logged a 9-1 SEC mark at No. 1 singles this year and posted a 7-2 SEC record atop the doubles lineup. Each of his 18 finished doubles matches at No. 1 doubles came alongside Pat Harper.

Monday posted an 11-2 mark against ranked singles foes this dual season and was 4-0 when facing top-10 opponents. This spring saw Monday rise to a career-high ITA national singles ranking of No. 2. He set a career-best singles winning streak this year, winning 12 consecutive matches from Jan. 28 to March 31.

Hudd was an all-around force for Tennessee in 2023. The London, England, native and two-time SEC Player of the Week this season was a combined 30-8 at the No. 2 singles and doubles lineup positions during his second season on Rocky Top.

This dual season, Hudd ascended to a career-high ITA national singles ranking of No. 27. He logged seven ranked singles victories, including a pair of top-15 triumphs this spring.

Hudd was 9-3 in SEC singles action this dual season, including an 8-2 SEC mark at the No. 2 singles position. On the doubles courts, Hudd more than doubled his 2022 SEC win total, logging an 11-1 record in SEC play. Each of those doubles matches were at the No. 2 position with Mitsui. Hudd attained his 100th career doubles win this season and logged a career-best doubles winning streak of 13 matches, spanning Feb. 17 to April 2.

Sophomore standout Mitsui logged a 10-1 record in SEC singles play this dual season, mirroring his 10-1 SEC singles effort from a year ago. At 12-1 (9-1 SEC) at the No. 4 singles lineup position and 18-6 in dual singles matches this spring, Mitsui posted a 28-9 mark in overall singles matches during the 2022-23 campaign.

In doubles play, Mitsui more than doubled his SEC win total from a year ago, going 11-1 in SEC doubles matches. Each of those 11 wins came with Hudd at the No. 2 doubles slot. Overall, Mitsui stands at a 20-4 dual doubles record and is 26-7 in overall doubles action this year. In his young career, Mitsui has already totaled 62 singles wins and 58 doubles victories.

The Vols have accumulated nine first-team All-SEC honors since head coach Chris Woodruff took the helm at his alma mater and have placed multiple student-athletes on the All-SEC First Team six times since 2013, doing so now in four consecutive seasons (no SEC awards were distributed in 2020 due to COVID-19).

SEC Player of the Year
Johannus Monday

First Team All-SEC
Johannus Monday
Emile Hudd

Second Team All-SEC
Shunsuke Mitsui

University of Tennessee Athletics

Monday Named SEC Player of the Year, Hudd and Mitsui Garner All-SEC Honors

Players Mentioned

Pat Harper

Emile Hudd

Shunsuke Mitsui

Johannus Monday

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