KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Boasting the nation’s second-longest active home win streak among Power 5 schools at 29 consecutive home triumphs, the No. 1 Tennessee men’s tennis team concludes its regular season non-conference slate Tuesday, as the Furman Paladins travel to Knoxville for a midweek dual to begin outdoor season. First serve is scheduled for 1pm ET from Barksdale Stadium.
Live stats will be provided by UTsports.com and can be found here. Live streaming is available for free through Playsight and can be found here.
Admission is free and free tennis parking for spectators is located in SC40 at the Kingston Pike Building. Additional parking information can be found here.
LAST TIME OUT
While in Seattle for the ITA Indoor National Championships, Tennessee logged a 3-1 record and an appearance in the championship match, falling to then-fourth-ranked TCU in the final, 4-1.
SCOUTING FURMAN
Tennessee is 16-0 in the all-time series with Furman, which dates to 1965. A Tennessee victory in the series’ 17th episode would give the top-ranked Vols their 12th victory of the season and extend their home win streak to 30 matches , a streak that dates to Jan. 31, 2020. That streak of 29 consecutive home triumphs ranks as the nation’s second-longest active home win streak among Power 5 schools. Arizona leads all Power 5 schools in this respect with 31 home wins in a row.
Furman is 8-2 this dual season, holding a 1-2 record on the road. They fell at Clemson, 6-1 on Jan. 15 and in its most recent action, picked up a 4-0 road sweep of Richmond on Sunday.
VOLS IN THE RANKINGS
singles
#6 – Johannus Monday
#32 – Adam Walton
#51 – Emile Hudd
#103 – Mark Wallner
doubles
#9 – Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui
#57 – Pat Harper/Adam Walton
ATOP THE ITA POLL
In the ITA’s first computer rankings of 2022, the Tennessee men’s tennis team received the No. 1 national distinction Wednesday, with four singles players ranked inside the top 125 and two doubles pairs inside the top 60 of the Division I rankings in Thursday’s update from the ITA.
The Vols are in the top five of the ITA rankings for a 19th consecutive week. That streak is the second-longest active top-five streak in the nation, behind only Baylor by a single week.
SMOOTH LIKE BUTTER
Senior Emile Hudd is off to a strong start in dual matches, with an 8-2 singles mark and 6-3 record in doubles. Picking up a pair of ranked singles wins in Seattle at the ITA Indoor National Championships, Hudd clinched match point for the Vols at the No. 3 singles slot in each of those wins, over South Carolina and Baylor. Overall, Hudd is 17-4 in singles and 19-5 on the doubles courts since arriving in Knoxville.
CHASING HISTORY
In October, graduate student Adam Walton earned his 100th career singles win to become the 11th-ever Vol to reach the century mark in career singles triumphs. With a 6-4 doubles win with Pat Harper over Baylor’s Mazzuchi/Soto on Feb. 20 in the semifinal round of the ITA Indoor National Championships, Walton now stands just 12 doubles victories away from 100. Reaching this feat would make him just the sixth Vol in program history to accrue 100 career doubles and 100 career singles wins.
BRICK WALL(NER)
Graduate student Mark Wallner has certainly given the Vols a lift at the No. 3 doubles spot, pairing up with Johannus Monday for a stellar 4-0 record at the ITA Indoor National Championships in Seattle. In the championship match, the pair’s victory tied Wallner’s career-best doubles win streak of six consecutive doubles wins.
The duo’s performance earned a spot on the 2022 ITA Division I National Men’s Team Indoor Championship All-Tournament Team for that No. 3 doubles position. Tennessee holds a perfect 8-0 record this season when claiming the doubles point.
50 BURGERS
With a 6-4, 6-1 singles win over then-15th-ranked Juan Carlos Aguilar of TCU at the ITA Indoor National Championships, sophomore Monday logged the 50th singles win of his UT career. He now holds a singles record of 50-13 as a Vol.
MOVING ON UP
A singles win for Walton Tuesday would tie him with Boris Conkic for the eighth-most singles wins in program history. The move up in the history books comes after having surpassed Mikelis Libietis for the ninth place on the all-time singles wins list in Tennessee’s win over Texas A&M in Seattle.
RANKED DUBS
With five wins over ranked opponents this dual season, the Vols equal their number of victories over ranked opponents entering SEC play from last season. Tennessee’s ranked wins this year are over No. 5 TCU (4-3), no. 10 Wake Forest (4-3), No. 12Texas A&M (4-0), No. 13 South Carolina (4-2) and No. 3Baylor (4-2).
FRESHMAN PHENOME
Being named SEC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 2, Shunsuke Mitsui has won 12 of his past 14 singles matches, with nine of those wins (9-2) coming in dual season. With SEC action looming, Mitsui owns 22 doubles wins this season, including fall action. For perspective, Johannus Monday is sixth on Tennessee’s all-time freshman doubles wins list with 27 doubles triumphs. Walton is 11th on that list with 25. Mitsui has clinched match point for the Vols three times this season (Old Dominion, Charlotte, Texas A&M).
MILESTONES FOR PATRICK
In his 6-4 doubles victory with Walton on court two over Baylor’s Mazzuchi/Soto in the semifinals of the ITA Indoor National Championships, Harper registered the 40th dual match doubles win of his Tennessee career. The Aussie can claim his 65th overall doubles win with a victory Tuesday.
WELCOME TO THE DIAZ SHOW
With a pair of wins in Seattle, junior Angel Diaz improved his singles record this season to 18-9, with a 6-3 mark in dual action. His win over Baylor’s Finn Bass tied a season-best singles win streak of four matches.
THEY CALL HIM CG
A freshman from Ireland, Conor Gannon clinched Tennessee’s pair of season-opening wins over ETSU on Jan. 12 and is 16-9 in singles this season (3-2 in dual matches). Gannon was on his way to earning a potential three-set victory in the ITA Indoor final, leading TCU’s Lui Maxted at the No. 6 singles position, 4-6, 7-6(1), 2-0, as the match went unfinished upon the Horned Frogs’ clinch.
UP NEXT
The Vols enter SEC action this weekend, with a road tilt at No. 22 Mississippi State on Friday at 4 pm ET, before traveling north in The Magnolia State to face No. 11 Ole Miss, with first serve set for 2 pm ET on Sunday.
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