LEXINGTON, Ky. – Number 22 Kentucky Wildcats (15-5, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) won their first victory over an opponent in the top 10 on Friday, defeating No. 10 South Carolina Gamecocks (11-7, 6-4 SEC ) for a score of 4-2 at the Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
Cats advance to 13-0 at home, while the co-rookie of the week reigned in the SEC Liam Draxl got his second win over the country’s No. 1 singles player.
“Very good win,” said the assistant coach Matthew Gordon. “South Carolina is difficult and well trained. After losing a few games played over the past weekend, it was important for the boys to get their first win in the top 10.”
After South Carolina won the doubles spot, Gabriel Diallo—The other SEC rookie of the week and the country’s 31stst– ranked singles player – paved the way for Kentucky’s victory by opening the singles game with his perfect 6-3 6-1 win over 40º– ranked Connor Thomson on the second court.
Co-captain of team nº 60 Millen Hurrion followed suit with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 68 Raphael Lambling in court three, giving Kentucky an overall 2-1 advantage.
Then, the seventh ranked Draxl survived the newly anointed No. 1 Daniel Rodrigues in straight sets, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4. Draxl changes to 2-0 against players ranked first after defeating Daniel Cukierman of the University of Southern California 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on February 10.
“I’m not surprised by today’s win,” said Draxl. “We have the talent to beat anyone in the country. We just have to go out there and play what we can and victories like this will continue to happen.”
A loss for César Bourgois to 70º-classified Toby Samuel on the fourth court, kept the Wildcats on alert and took the Gamecocks to a 3-2 disadvantage. Samuel came out in the first 7-6 (7-4) in the first bracket of a three-set battle before Bourgois responded with a 7-5 victory in the second and dropped 6-2 in the third.
With eyes fixed on the victory in sight, the number 97 of Kentucky Joshua Lapadat won victory in court five, 6-4, 6-3 over Jake Beasley of South Carolina.
“I know we had some good individual performances, but I have to give Josh credit for ending the game the way he did,” said Gordon. “He has been working a lot recently and deserved the win. This is a special team with a strong culture. Good things will happen if they continue to work the way they are.”
Kentucky’s homeland will be short-lived, as the Wildcats will end their final regular season bout on Sunday at noon ET in a highly anticipated competition against the No. 1 Florida Gators (16-1, 10-0 SEC) in Gainesville.
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# 22 Kentucky 4, # 10 South Carolina 2
Songs
1. # 7 Liam Draxl (United Kingdom) def. # 1 Daniel Rodrigues (USC) 7-6 (10-8), 6-4
2. # 31 Gabriel Diallo (United Kingdom) def. # 40 Connor Thomson (USC) 6-1, 6-3
3. # 60 Millen Hurrion (United Kingdom) def. # 68 Raphael Lambling (USC) 6-3, 6-2
4. # 70 Toby Samuel (USC) won. César Bourgois (UK) 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-2
5. # 97 Joshua Lapadat (United Kingdom) def. Jake Beasley (USC) 6-4, 6-3
6 Yasha Zemel (United Kingdom) vs. Phillip Jordan (USC) 3-6, 2-2, unfinished
Doubles
1. # 36 Daniel Rodrigues / Connor Thomson (USC) def. # 20 César Bourgois/Gabriel Diallo (United Kingdom) 6-4
2. Jake Beasley / Toby Samuel (USC) won. Millen Hurrion/Liam Draxl (United Kingdom) 6-4
3 Alexandre LeBlanc/Joshua Lapadat (United Kingdom) def. # 80 Raphael Lambling / Phillip Jordan (USC) 6-4
Finishing order: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,3,1,4,5)