The No. 5 Wildcats finish the season at 27-3.
In the doubles match, the Wildcats made a comeback, but they were unable to hold on, allowing TCU to take the early lead. Against the Horned Frogs’ combination of Jack Pinnington and Sebastian Gorzny, Taha Baadi and Jack Loutit were the first to complete, 3-6. Jaden Weekes and Eli Stephenson rallied from a 1-5 disadvantage on court three to tie the match at 4-5. In the end, they were unable to seal the deal, losing 4-6 to Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted of TCU.
The Cats could not shift the momentum in the singles session as TCU took a lead in the first set on all courts but court six. In need of some comeback magic, Kentucky would need to force a third set on three courts to stay in Stillwater. Sophomore Charlelie Cosnet slipped to No. 78 Lui Maxted, 3-6, 1-6. With TCU up a break on every court, Loutit lost 4-6, 4-6 against No. 77 Gorzny in his match. Ultimately, Baadi lost 4-6, 3-6 to No. 13 Pinnington to end the tournament.
With its remarkable 27-3 overall record at the end of the season, Kentucky has won the fewest games in a season since 1970. In addition, the Wildcats won two championships: the SEC tournament championship and the overall regular season title. With their third straight appearance in the elite eight, Kentucky has made the most consecutive trips to the national quarterfinals in program history.
Mercer, Lapadat, and Baadi will stay in Stillwater from May 20–25 for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. Baadi will play singles for the Wildcats, while Lapadat and Mercer are the No. 3 seeds in the doubles draw.
RESULTS
No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 4 TCU
Doubles
No. 4 Lapadat/Mercer (UK) vs. No. 63 Fearnley/Vives (TCU): 4-5, unfinished
Pinnington/Gorzny (TCU) def. Baadi/Loutit (UK): 6-3
Chan/Maxted (TCU) def. Stephenson/Weekes (UK): 4-6
Singles
No. 13 Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. No. 28 Taha Baadi (UK): 6-4, 6-3
No. 80 Joshua Lapadat (UK) vs. No. 7 Jake Fearnley (TCU): 3-6, 5-6, unfinished
Jaden Weekes (UK) vs. No. 73 Pedro Vives (TCU): 5-7, 4-4, unfinished
No. 78 Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Charlelie Cosnet (UK): 6-3, 6-1
No. 77 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. Jack Loutit (UK): 6-4, 6-4
Eli Stephenson (UK) vs. Tomas Jirousek (TCU): 7-5, 3-2, unfinished
Order of Finish:
Doubles— 2, 3*
Singles— 4, 5, 1*
