No. 10 Men’s Tennis Defeats No. 16 Kentucky 6-1 in Home Opener

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 10 Texas A&M men's tennis team topped No. 16 Kentucky 6-1 at the Mitchell Tennis Center in their first home match of the season Tuesday. A&M improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in league play while the Wildcats fell to 11-2 this season and 1-1 in conference.
 
The Maroon & White jumped on the Wildcats to open the match securing the doubles point for the _ time in seven matches this season. A&M's duo of Carlos Aguilar and Bjorn Thomson, ranked No. 48 nationally, bested UK's Gabriel Diallo and Cesar Bourgois 6-1 on court one. The Aggie pair of Noah Schachter and Hady Habib clinched the match's first point with a 6-3 triumph on court two over Liam Draxl and Alexandre LeBlanc.
 
The Aggies claimed four of six first sets in singles action to maintain scoreboard pressure on the visitors. Kentucky scored their lone point of the day with a victory on court three before the Aggies rattled off five straight wins. No. 14 Habib topped Diallo 6-3, 6-3 on court two to push the Aggies ahead 2-1 before No. 116 Schachter posted a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 result on court four over No. 23 Joshua Lapadat.
 
No. 4 Valentin Vacherot clinched the win for the Aggies with an impressive 7-6, 6-3 win over No. 45 Draxl. A&M's Raphael Perot and Guido Marson followed with wins to make the final score 6-1 in the home team's favor.
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies remain at home for a weekend of SEC action as No. 20 South Carolina and No. 11 Florida return to the Mitchell Tennis Center for the second consecutive season. A&M will take on the Gamecocks at 6 p.m. Friday (Feb. 26) and the Gators at 1 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 28).
 
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Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN.
 
POST MATCH QUOTES
Steve Denton, Texas A&M Head Coach
On the match…
"This was a very good home win because I thought the conditions were really difficult today. The wind was kind of swirly and I thought we did a good job jumping on them in the doubles to give us the lead. It was a battle from there with a couple of tiebreakers going our way on court one and six. Our guys did a good solid job handling the conditions well and facing adversity. We know that Kentucky is a really good team and for us to face that kind of adversity and come through, that makes for a really great team win."
 
Tennis Match Results
Kentucky vs Texas A&M
2/23/2021 at BCS, TX
(Mitchell Tennis Center)
 
#10 Texas A&M 6, #16 Kentucky 1

Singles competition
1. #4 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. #45 Liam Draxl (UK) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
2. #14 Hady Habib (TAMU) def. Gabriel Diallo (UK) 6-3, 6-3
3. Cesar Bourgois (UK) def. #33 Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) 6-3, 6-1
4. #116 Noah Schachter (TAMU) def. #123 Joshua Lapadat (UK) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
5. Guido Marson (TAMU) def. Yasha Zemel (UK) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
6. Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. Mathis Moysan (UK) 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)
 
Doubles competition
1. #48 Carlos Aguilar/Bjorn Thomson (TAMU) def. Gabriel Diallo/Cesar Bourgois (UK) 6-2
2. Noah Schachter/Hady Habib (TAMU) def. Liam Draxl/Alexandre Leblanc (UK) 6-3
3. Pierce Rollins/Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) vs. Yasha Zemel/Joshua Lapadat (UK) 4-3, unfinished
 
Match Notes:
Kentucky 11-2, 1-1; National ranking #16
Texas A&M 6-1, 2-0; National ranking #10
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (3,2,4,1,6,5)