KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The 20th-ranked Tennessee men’s tennis team earned its first top-10 victory of the season and 10th home win of the year in a 4-1 triumph over ninth-ranked Columbia Friday at Barksdale Stadium.
Sophomore Shunsuke Mitsui, ranked No. 122 in singles, earned his second clinch of the year as he surged past Alex Kotzen on court four, 6-4, 6-3. From evened at 4-4 in the first set to up 3-1 in the second, Mitsui won five of six games to seize momentum in the match.
Tennessee (13-6) took the doubles point for the 17th time in 19 matches, with wins on courts two and one. The 60th-ranked duo of Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui registered the day’s first win as they overcame Columbia’s Roko Horvat and Max Westphal at No. 2 doubles, 6-2.
On court one, the nation’s second-ranked doubles pairing of Johannus Monday and Pat Harper rallied from down a break at 1-3 to take a 6-3 victory over Theo Winegar and Michael Zheng and clinch the doubles point.
“Doubles is one thing where, as a coach, you don’t want it to go down,” head coach Chris Woodruff said. “Our reliability there gives us some confidence throughout the course of the week to be able to work on things that we need to work on. We always work on doubles, but it’s one less thing that we have to address.”
The Vols took four first sets over Columbia (11-2) to begin singles play. After the Lions evened the match at 1-1 with a win on court six, UT’s three singles wins each came in a 15-minute span. The first was on court three, as Blaise Bicknell posted a straight-set, 6-3, 6-4, win over 87th-ranked Max Westphal. For Bicknell, it’s his second consecutive singles win in Knoxville.
“We haven’t really panicked,” Woodruff said. “When you’re not executing the way you think you should be, the tendency is to panic. We just had guys play better today. It’s outdoors and at home. We’re in a good spot. For the guys, we talk a lot about the fact that the bottom line is May. Where are we in May? Not where are we right now, but where are we in May?”
Court two saw #57 Emile Hudd defeated #89 Roko Horvat (COL) 6-2, 6-4, to give UT a commanding 3-1 lead. Hudd won 60 percent of the first set’s total points en route to capturing his 11th dual singles win of the year.
Singles matches on courts one and five went unfinished.
Sophomore Shunsuke Mitsui, ranked No. 122 in singles, earned his second clinch of the year as he surged past Alex Kotzen on court four, 6-4, 6-3. From evened at 4-4 in the first set to up 3-1 in the second, Mitsui won five of six games to seize momentum in the match.
Tennessee (13-6) took the doubles point for the 17th time in 19 matches, with wins on courts two and one. The 60th-ranked duo of Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui registered the day’s first win as they overcame Columbia’s Roko Horvat and Max Westphal at No. 2 doubles, 6-2.
On court one, the nation’s second-ranked doubles pairing of Johannus Monday and Pat Harper rallied from down a break at 1-3 to take a 6-3 victory over Theo Winegar and Michael Zheng and clinch the doubles point.
“Doubles is one thing where, as a coach, you don’t want it to go down,” head coach Chris Woodruff said. “Our reliability there gives us some confidence throughout the course of the week to be able to work on things that we need to work on. We always work on doubles, but it’s one less thing that we have to address.”
The Vols took four first sets over Columbia (11-2) to begin singles play. After the Lions evened the match at 1-1 with a win on court six, UT’s three singles wins each came in a 15-minute span. The first was on court three, as Blaise Bicknell posted a straight-set, 6-3, 6-4, win over 87th-ranked Max Westphal. For Bicknell, it’s his second consecutive singles win in Knoxville.
“We haven’t really panicked,” Woodruff said. “When you’re not executing the way you think you should be, the tendency is to panic. We just had guys play better today. It’s outdoors and at home. We’re in a good spot. For the guys, we talk a lot about the fact that the bottom line is May. Where are we in May? Not where are we right now, but where are we in May?”
Court two saw #57 Emile Hudd defeated #89 Roko Horvat (COL) 6-2, 6-4, to give UT a commanding 3-1 lead. Hudd won 60 percent of the first set’s total points en route to capturing his 11th dual singles win of the year.
Singles matches on courts one and five went unfinished.
TOP-10 TRIUMPH
Friday’s win over the Lions marked Tennessee’s 11th top-10 win under Woodruff’s watch. The first during his tenure came in 2019,…
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