Kentucky men’s tennis suffered an early exit in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
Coming in ranked No. 25 nationally, the Wildcats were matched up against California (ranked No. 42 nationally) in the opening round of the Men’s Tennis Championship, losing 4-3 on Friday at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center in Columbus, Ohio.
The Golden Bears advance to the second round, where they’ll take on the winner of No. 3 Ohio State vs. Buffalo on Saturday. Kentucky’s season comes to an end with a final record of 17-14 (5-9; SEC). This marked the Wildcats’ 10th straight postseason appearance and 33rd in program history, but this was the first opening-round loss since 2017. Cal is now 4-0 all-time against UK.
Kentucky led for most of the match, picking up the doubles points with singles wins from a pair of freshmen twin brothers: Nicolas and Mikael Arseneault. But Cal locked up wins on courts one, three, four, and five, taking its first and only lead of the match with the clinching win on court five.
No. 25 Kentucky vs. California results
Doubles Results
- No. 16 Loutit/Stephenson (UK) def. No. 30 Aney/Stepanov (CAL) 7-5
- Lechno-Wasiutyski/Silva (CAL) def. No. 85 Breysach/Cosnet (UK) 7-5
- N. Arseneault/Weekes (UK) def. Munk Mesa/Pouatcha (CAL) 7-6 (5)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles Results
- Timofey Stepanov (CAL) def. No. 23 Eli Stephenson (UK) 7-5, 6-4
- No. 59 Nicolas Arseneault (UK) def. Tiago Silva (CAL) 6-4, 6-3
- Bernardo Munk Mesa (CAL) def. Jaden Weekes (UK) 7-5, 6-0
- Paris Pouatcha (CAL) def. Charlelie Cosnet (UK) 6-4, 6-2
- Lenn Luemkemann (CAL) def. No. 82 Jack Loutit (UK) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
- Mikael Arseneault (UK) def. Winston Lee (CAL) 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 6, 4, 2, 1, 5
