Tennessee men’s tennis booked its trip to the Super Regionals on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Memphis. With the win, the No. 7 seed Vols (24-6) advance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Vols found themselves in trouble early with Memphis (19-7) threatening on all courts.
“Minus the cracked orbital sockets, it’s really like MMA for a round,” Tennessee head coach Chris Woodruff said. “It’s 25 minutes of standing in the middle of the ring like Mike Tyson would and just swing away.”
The first pair to break the scoreboard was Filip Apltauer and James Newton. The duo gave the Vols a 7-5 win on Court 3.
Newton and Apltauer have had a small sample size as a pairing this season. Woodruff has seemed to have found a groove with the duo. They are winners in three of their last four doubles matchups including yesterday’s win over ETSU.
Memphis did not let up without a battle, keeping the other two courts on lock up until the final serves.
Johannus Monday and Angel Diaz, on the other hand, have had plenty of experience together during their 2024 campaign. The two have totaled 16 wins compared to five losses, including a 9-2 record against nationally ranked opponents. The two have stood firm at Court 1 all season long and clinched the doubles point for the Vols.
Diaz continued Tennessee’s run at Court 4, defeating Memphis’ Harry Rock in two sets. Diaz made quick work in the first set, winning, 6-2. He followed that up with another 6-2 victory and another point for the Vols.
“It’s like riding a bike,” Woodruff said. “You get down. You fall off. You gotta get back up. How you handle your attitude when you fall off is what really matters.”
Up two points on Memphis, the game entered a stage where neither team was budging. Besides Diaz on and Monday, every other match needed a third set to decide its game.
No. 1 Monday finally ended the silence on Court 1 with a two-set victory over Pablo Alemany.
Monday took a few rounds to settle into the flow of his singles match, as Alemany forced the first set into sudden death. Monday grabbed both nonetheless, boosting his singles’ record to 24-2 on the 2024 season.
After Monday’s victory that gave the team a big 3-0 advantage, Shunsuke Mitsui put the nail in the coffin. Positioned on Court 2, Mitsui battled for three sets against Memphis’ Conor Gannon. Gannon took the first set, 6-4, before Mitsui completely flipped the script, taking the final two sets.
“The team is very close,” Mitsui said. “We don’t have anything to lose, so we can play free. And we also have to play tough as a team.”
The Vols turn to No. 10 Florida State next weekend for the Super Regional round, which will be played at home.
“I just think we competed,” Woodruff said. “It’s passed whether we played well, did we not play well. It’s not like we can analyze, get the film out from the previous matches. We gotta keep it fresh, we have to relax and we have to recover.”
