#5 Vols Advance to SEC Tournament Semifinals
ATHENS, Ga. (April 22, 2022) - Fifth-year senior Adam Walton was the clincher for the Vols Friday as the fifth-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team advanced to the SEC semifinals for a fourth consecutive SEC Tournament, besting No. 11 Georgia, 4-1.
Tennessee (22-6) extends its winning streak to five and has won eight of its past nine matches, knocking off the host school in Georgia (17-7).
Doubles action saw Tennessee's Mark Wallner and Johannus Monday finish second and earned the first Big Orange win by defeating Blake Croyder and Erik Grevelius, 6-4 on court three. Soon after, the Aussie duo of #25 Adam Walton and Pat Harper toppled Georgia's 62nd-ranked pairing of Tristan McCormick and Hamish Stewart, 6-4 on court one to earn the doubles clinch. It marks the 20th doubles win of the season for the Vols, improving to 18-2 when winning doubles.
Tennessee freshman Shunsuke Mitsui got off the courts first with a 6-2, 6-4 over #109 Trent Bryde at the No. 4 singles slot. After earning a break in the match's opening game, Mitsui rolled to a first set win and jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set before holding on for yet another singles victory.
Georgia cut its deficit to 2-1 with a singles win on court six, before nearly simultaneous wins on courts two and one sealed the Vols' win. UT's Monday delivered a 6-3, 6-4 win on court two over Georgia's #46 Philip Henning. Less than two minutes later, on court one, seventh-ranked Walton defeated #13 Hamish Stewart in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5 for his first clinch of the dual season. Walts trailed 3-5 before winning four consecutive games and send the Vols to the semifinal round.
The win marks Tennessee's third over Georgia in the teams' past four meetings.
CLOSER TO HISTORY FOR OUR ACE
With doubles and singles wins Friday, Walton is on the verge of making history for Tennessee. Now at 116 career singles victories, Walton stands one win away from tying VFL Luca Wiedenmann for the sixth-most career singles triumphs in program history. In doubles, Walton earned his 99th career doubles win Friday, needing just one more to become the sixth Vol in program history to enter the 100/100 club with 100 singles wins and 100 doubles wins.
FRESHMAN SENSATION
Mitsui recorded his 32nd singles win of the season Friday, tying Monday for the eighth-most singles wins in a season by a Tennessee freshman. With 28 doubles wins this year, Mitsui stands at No. 6 on Tennessee's all-time freshman list for doubles wins in a season.
UP NEXT
The Vols face top-seeded Florida Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.