No. 10 Kentucky men’s tennis took down Illinois 4-3 in a back-and-forth matchup to advance to 3-0 on the season.
The Wildcats traveled to Champaign, Illinois, for their first taste of road action of the season.
In doubles play, Matt Rankin and Taha Baadi dropped first in a 6-1 loss, but JJ Mercer and Joshua Lapadat answered to get Kentucky back on track, winning 6-4 on court one.
It then came down to Eli Stephenson and Jaden Weekes, who pressed Illinois to a tiebreaker.
They ultimately fell short 10-8, losing 7-6 in the last doubles match to give the Fighting Illini the doubles point and an edge heading into singles play.