The Gators first face No. 5 Kentucky on Friday, and quickly turn around for a match with No. 9 Tennessee on Sunday.
GAINESVILLE Fla. – Fresh off of an SEC opening weekend that saw the Gators defend their home court against two top-25 opponents, Florida Gators Men’s Tennis now hits the road for another two-match weekend, first facing No. 5 Kentucky on Friday, and then No. 9 Tennessee on Sunday.
Last time out
Florida opened their SEC slate of matches 2-0 with two dominant victories over then No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 25 LSU. The two wins over top-25 opponents gave the Gators a 25-spot boost in this week’s ITA team rankings, to number 27 spot in the nation. Freshman Jeremy Jin was tabbed as the SEC Freshman of the Week for his two electrifying performances on court one during the weekend.
The Opponents
Florida holds a definitive 52-17 lead over Kentucky in the all-time series between the two programs. The Wildcats won both matches against the Gators last season, the last of which came on April 14 when Kentucky defeated Florida 5-2. The last time that the Orange and Blue defeated the Wildcats was on April 22, 2022, when the 4-0 win claimed the 2022 SEC tournament title for Florida. The 2024 iteration of Kentucky’s squad currently reps an 11-2 overall record and a 2-0 conference record.
The Gators hold a slimmer 47-31 advantage over the Volunteers in their all-time series. The last time the two programs met, Tennessee defeated Florida in Gainesville, 3-4. The Gators last win over the Vols came on April 22, 2022 in the semifinals of the aforementioned 2022 SEC tournament. Tennessee currently boasts a 13-3 overall record including a 2-0 start to SEC play. Tennessee’s Johannus Monday, the No. 6 singles player in the nation and reigning SEC Player of the Year, was named SEC Player of the Week on Wednesday.
Match Coverage
Kentucky, 3/8/2024 | 5 p.m.
Live stats<https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=kty>
Live video<https://ukathletics.com/kentucky-tennis-live-video/>
Tennessee, 3/10/2024 | 1 p.m.
Live stats<http://www.sidearmstats.com/utennessee/mten/>
Live video<https://web.playsight.com/facility/uniersity-of-tennessee/home>
In the ITA Rankings
Florida
Team – No. 27
Singles – Jeremy Jin, No. 97; Tanapatt Nirundorn, No. 99
Doubles – Tanapatt Nirundorn/Adhithya Ganesan, No. 39
Kentucky
Team – No. 5
Singles – Taha Baadi, No. 21
Doubles – Joshua Lapadat/JJ Mercer, No. 13
Tennessee
Team – No. 9
Singles – Johannus Monday, No. 6; Shunsuke Mitsui, No. 23; Filip Pieczonka, No. 94
Doubles – Johannus Monday/Angel Diaz, No. 4; Filip Pieczonka/Shunsuke Mitsui, No. 20
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