In an exciting final match of the regular season, No. 5 Kentucky (21-4, 9-3 SEC) secured a 5-2 victory over No. 21 Florida (13-11, 5-6 SEC) on Friday night at the Alfred Ring Tennis Complex. This triumph marks Kentucky’s second win of the season over the Gators, with the first occurring during the opening round of the ITA Indoor Nationals in February. The win also signifies the Wildcats’ first victory in Gainesville since 2011.
The Wildcats edged ahead by claiming a hard-fought doubles point, which was decided by a tiebreaker on court two. Florida’s sixth-ranked duo, Will Grant and Axel Nefve, emerged victorious on the top doubles court. However, Kentucky’s Liam Draxl and Jaden Weekes leveled the score with a 6-3 win at third doubles. The Wildcats’ Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer secured the deciding victory in a tight tiebreaker, giving Kentucky a 1-0 advantage. This doubles win ended the Gators’ eight-match doubles point streak and improved the Wildcats’ doubles record to 17-8 as a team this spring.
Singles play began evenly, with both sides taking three opening sets. Kentucky freshman Weekes delivered the night’s first singles point with a straight-set win over Nate Bonetto on court five, improving his singles record to 12-6 for the spring. Ayeni brought the Cats within a point of victory, defeating Florida’s Grant 6-3, 7-5 for his sixth-ranked win of the season. While the Gators managed to score a point at third singles from No. 108 Jonah Braswell, Charlelie Cosnet secured the clinch for UK with a three-set comeback victory on court six against Tanapatt Nirundorn.
The remaining matches saw each team gain another point, with Kentucky’s Baadi overcoming an early deficit to win fourth singles 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, and the Gators’ Nefve also rallying from a set down to secure a win on court one. Baadi’s victory takes the senior transfer to 15 singles wins for the dual season, ranking third-most on the team.
The Wildcats will now shift their focus to the SEC Tournament, scheduled for April 19-23 at Auburn University.
Results
Doubles
Court 1: No. 6 Grant/Nefve (UF) def. No. 26 Ayeni/Baadi (UK): 6-4
Court 2: No. 65 Mercer/Lapadat (UK) def. Bonetto/Nirundorn (UF): 7-6 (5)
Court 3: Draxl/Weekes (UK) def. Braswell/Grief (UF): 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
Court 1: No. 41 Axel Nefve (UF) def. No. 20 Liam Draxl (UK): 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
Court 2: No. 31 Alafia Ayeni (UK) def. No. 83 Will Grant (UF): 6-3, 7-5
Court 3: No. 106 Jonah Braswell (UF) def. No. 48 Joshua Lapadat (UK): 6-4, 6-0
Court 4: Taha Baadi (UK) def. Lukas Grief (UF): 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Court 5: Jaden Weekes (UK) def. Nate Bonetto (UF): 6-3, 6-4
Court 6: Charlelie Cosnet (UK) def. Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF): 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 2, 3, 6, 4, 1
