Men's Tennis Central: #6 Tennessee at #5 Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The sixth-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team is primed for a top-10 road showdown at No. 5 Kentucky in its regular-season finale. First serve is set for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday at Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex, with a share of the SEC regular season championship at stake for the Vols.

Live stats will be provided and can be found here. A live stream is available here. CrackedRacquets will be providing cross-court coverage of Sunday's conference matches through ESPN+ here.

LAST TIME OUT
The Vols (21-4, 10-1 SEC) won their sixth consecutive match with a 5-2 effort over Ole Miss on April 7. UT secured the doubles point for the 22nd time this season with wins on courts one and three. Chris Li routed the Rebels' Isac Stromberg, 6-1, 6-4, on court three. Shunsuke Mitsui, ranked 31st in singles, took down John Hallquist Lithen, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 2 spot. Angel Diaz clinched the match with a three-setter over Carson Baker on court six, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Third-ranked Johannus Monday defeated No. 50 Nikola Slavic in 7-6(3), 6-4 fashion atop the lineup to reach his 100th career singles victory.

SCOUTING KENTUCKY
Kentucky (20-2, 11-0 SEC) is coming off a 4-1 win vs. Georgia on April 12 at home to remain undefeated in conference play. The Wildcats are on a 13-match winning streak and boast a 7-1 mark against top-25 ranked opponents this season.

Taha Baadi, ranked 38th in the nation, is 10-6 atop UK's singles lineup in 2024 and holds an 8-4 record against ranked opponents. Eli Stephenson is undefeated in dual match action with a 13-0 record, playing primarily at the No. 6 spot.

UK's eighth-ranked pair of Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer boasts a 12-4 mark at the No. 1 position and has won five of their most recent matches.

VOLS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#3 - Johannus Monday
#31 - Shunsuke Mitsui

Doubles
#10 - Johannus Monday/Angel Diaz
#58 - Shunsuke Mitsui/Filip Pieczonka

WILDCATS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#38 - Taha Baadi
#99 - Joshua Lapadat
#124 - Jaden Weekes

Doubles
#8 - Joshua Lapadat/JJ Mercer

JOMO HITS 100
Johannus Monday eclipsed the 100 career singles win mark with his straight-set effort over Ole Miss' 50th-ranked Nikola Slavic. The senior holds an impressive .806 winning percentage during his time at UT and boasts a 42-6 career mark atop the Vols' lineup. His triumph over Slavic marked his 15th victory over a ranked opponent this season and his 20th conference win of 2024.

DOMINATING IN CONFERENCE PLAY
UT currently sits in second place in the SEC with a 10-1 record, right behind Kentucky (11-0). The Vols are on a six-match winning streak with one conference match left in the regular season. UK secured a share of the SEC regular season title with its win over Georgia on Friday night. The Vols can tie as SEC regular season champions with a win over the Wildcats on Sunday.

UP NEXT
The Vols will kick off postseason play with the 2024 SEC Men's Tennis Championship, running April 17-21 at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, La.

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Players Mentioned

Angel Diaz

Chris Li

Shunsuke Mitsui

Johannus Monday

Filip Pieczonka

University of Tennessee Athletics