Men’s Tennis Central: #6 Tennessee vs. Texas Tech

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Following the sixth-ranked Tennessee men’s tennis team’s season-opening victory over Charlotte Sunday, the Vols play host to Texas Tech Monday at 4 p.m. ET in the second leg of a back-to-back.
 
Live stats will be provided by UTsports.com and can be found here. Admission is free and complimentary tennis parking is located in SC40 at the Kingston Pike Building. Additional parking information can be found here.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Tennessee used five straight-set singles victories to fuel a 6-1 win over Charlotte Sunday afternoon and move to 1-0 on the year.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH

The season-opening back-to-back for the Vols concludes with a bout with Texas Tech in Knoxville at 4 p.m. ET Monday afternoon. Tennessee has won each of the five matches against Texas Tech in the series history, with the first meeting coming in 1975. UT won the last meeting, 4-2 in 2019. The Vols are 6-2 against current members of the Big 12 over the past two dual seasons.

 

The Red Raiders finished the 2022 season with a 14-12 record and a first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament. Texas Tech’s No. 1 singles player in 2022, Isaac Arevalo, returns for his fifth season of eligibility in 2023. Arevalo was 8-11 at the No. 1 dual singles spot a year ago, while also posting a 7-13 mark at the top of the doubles lineup.

 

Texas Tech is currently led by Interim Head Coach Michael Breler.

 

VOLS IN THE RANKINGS

Singles

#59 – Shunsuke Mitsui

#81 – Emile Hudd

#86 – Blaise Bicknell

 

Doubles

 #25 – Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui

 

The ITA’s individual rankings next update on Feb. 8.

 

QUICK HITTERS

• Tennessee’s win over Charlotte was its 24^th season-opening victory in the past 25 seasons.

• Four of Tennessee’s five singles wins Sunday came from individuals whom either had not played a dual match at Tennessee prior to Sunday or for returning players, came at a position in which they had not won at previously. Bicknell, at No. 3 singles, and Kozlov at the No. 5 slot earned their first dual singles wins as Vols. Mitsui, at No. 1 singles, and Diaz at No. 6 had not played at those respective positions prior to Sunday. It also marked Bicknell’s first career singles match at No. 3.

EXPERIENCED DEPTH

Seven of Tennessee’s nine roster spots are filled by either a graduate student or a senior, with five being graduate students along with a pair of seniors. Pat Harper, Emile Hudd and Martim Prata serve as the trio of Vols…