Florida Men’s Tennis Falls At No. 5 Kentucky

The No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats are on a five-match win streak after giving the Florida Gators their first conference loss of the season, 6-1, on the road Friday.

Ready for Battle 😼#WeAreUK 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Hc25XQMik8

— Kentucky Men's Tennis (@UKMensTennis) March 8, 2024

Doubles Upset

The Gators (6-5, 2-1 SEC) put the pressure on UK (12-2, 3-0) when they won the doubles point to begin the match.

The day’s first win came from Florida freshman duo Jeremy Jin-Henry Jefferson on Court 3. They gave freshman duo Matt Rankin-Jack Loutit 6-4 their first loss of the year.

Court 1 closed out doubles play as Nate Bonetto-Aidan Kim got a hard-fought win. The junior and freshman Gator pair upset the Wildcats’ redshirt senior and senior No. 13 ranked duo of Joshua Lapadat-JJ Mercer.

Gators take doubles!!!

Kim/Bonetto (UF) def. Lapadat/Mercer (UK) 6-4
Nirundorn/Ganesan (UF) vs. Stephenson/Weeks (UK) 5-6 unf.
Jefferson/Jin (UF) def. Loutit/Rankin (UK) 6-4 pic.twitter.com/v0rky8dOnq

— Gators Men's Tennis (@GatorsMTN) March 8, 2024

Sweeping Singles

After Florida won the doubles point and had a 1-0 lead heading into singles, Kentucky took care of business with a clean sweep in singles for the win.

Jaden Weekes quickly gave the Wildcats their first point after beating Ganesan on Court 3, 6-1, 6-1. This was Ganesan’s first loss on Court 3, as he started 5-0 in that spot.

https://twitter.com/UKMensTennis/status/1766250696482095514

Sophomore Charlelie Cosnet would get the Wildcats’ second point by beating Bonetto on Court 4 7-5, 6-3. Bonetto fell to 6-2 with two unfinished matches.

On Court 1, No. 21 fifth-year senior Taha Baadi took down Jin in a competitive second set. Baadi won the first set 6-2. Jin had a 4-2 lead in the second before Baadi eventually tied it 5-5. He went on to win the set 7-5 to win the match. Jin fell to 6-2 with three unfinished matches.

A ranked win for Baadi ❕He defeats No.97 Jin 6-2,7-5.
😼3|🐊1#WeAreUK 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/5mqPbpNsfA

— Kentucky Men's Tennis (@UKMensTennis) March 9, 2024

Just like Court 1, Court 2 had a battle during the second set. Lapadat beat Kim 6-3 on Court 2 during set one. He had a 4-2 lead in set two which Kim would go on to tie. The two kept it tied pushing it to 6-6. Lapadat won it for Kentucky as he came out on top beating Kim 6-3, 7(7)-6(4).

Continued Matches

After Kentucky won 4-1,  Loutit beat Nirundorn 6-4, 7(7)-6(4) on Court 5.

During the final match, Jefferson and Stephenson went head-to-head defending their undefeated records  Jefferson beat Stephenson in the first set 6-4. This was the only set that Florida won in singles. Stephenson took the second set 6-3 which forced a third 10-point tiebreaker set. Stephenson came out on top 1(10)-0(5) finishing the singles sweep for the Wildcats.

https://twitter.com/UKMensTennis/status/1766279656473542683

The Gators stay on the road Sunday when they head to Knoxville to take on the No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers (14-3, 3-0) at 1 p.m.