TOLEDO, Ohio - The University of Toledo men's tennis team is slated to face Kentucky on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. at the Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Ky. The team will then head to Cleveland to face Cleveland State at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday at the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion. 
 
Last Time Out
The Rockets opened their dual match season against Michigan State, falling 4-3 on Saturday. In doubles play, senior Danilo Vukotic and junior Filip Zupancic earned the Rockets' sole victory, defeating John Carlin/Anthony Pero 6-2 on the No. 1 court. Later in singles play, Vukotic posted the Rockets' first point, sweeping John Carlin in two sets (6-3, 6-3) on the No. 1 court. Zupancic collected the Rockets' second point, defeating Drew Keene 7-6(2), 7-6(6) on the No. 4 court. On the No. 5 court, freshman Luis Kleinschnitz came out victorious from a three-set battle against Jarreau Campbell (4-6, 7-5, 6-3). 
 
Last Time Against Kentucky
Toledo last faced Kentucky on Jan. 23, 2011 in Lexington, falling 6-1 to the Wildcats. At the time, UK was ranked No. 12. Toledo's Aleksandar Elezovic earned the Rockets' sole point with a 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 victory over No. 39 Alex Musialek on the No. 1 court. 
 
Scouting Kentucky
The Wildcats will be opening dual match play Thursday morning with an 11:00 a.m. match against Cleveland State before facing the Rockets at 4:00 p.m.
 
Returning for UK is junior Kento Yamada, who went 16-8 (4-6 SEC) in singles dual match play, rotating between the No. 2 and No. 5 courts. Yamada posted a 3-3 record against ranked opponents. Senior César Bourgois returns after going 12-13 (4-8 SEC), primarily from the No. 4 singles court. 
 
Last season, Kentucky posted a 16-15 record (5-7 SEC). The Wildcats accumulated a total of eight sweeps on the season and defeated ranked teams - No. 30 Ole Miss, No. 17 Alabama, No. 30 Vanderbilt, and No. 17 Georgia - during the regular season. No. 33 ranked UK entered the SEC Tournament as a No. 7 seed and faced a rematch with No. 10 seed and No. 36 ranked Vanderbilt. The Commodores edged out Kentucky from the SEC Tournament with a 4-3 victory. The Wildcats earned a spot in the NCAA Championships, defeating VCU 4-1 in the first round before falling to No. 3 ranked Wake Forest 4-1 in the second. 
 
Last Time Against Cleveland State 
The Rockets met the Vikings at the Rocket Invitational in the fall of the 2018-19 season. Vukotic defeated Luke Phillips in three sets (3-6, 6-3, 10-8). Serjen Olmedo defeated Clark Bilinovich (6-4, 7-6(3)), Thawin Suksathaporn defeated Benjamin Slade (6-4, 7-5), and Luka Vitosevic defeated Raul Teichmann (6-2, 6-2).
 
The last time Toledo clashed against Cleveland State in a dual match was on Feb. 15, 2009, in the "Glass City," where it swept the Vikings 7-0. The Rockets won the doubles point on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. Jared Miller, Sven Burus, Nutthavit Likitkumchorn, Aleksandar Elezovic, and Gursher Harika tallied two-set sweeps from courts 1-5. Jayson Miller also posted a three-set victory on the No. 6 court. 
 
Scouting Cleveland State
The Vikings open dual match play Thursday morning against Kentucky. 
 
Returning for CSU is sophomore Clark Bilinovich, who went 20-4 (6-0 Horizon League) in singles, splitting his time primarily between the No. 5 and 6 courts. Junior Luke Phillips also posted a strong singles record, going 17-7 (3-6 Horizon) from the No. 3 court and went 14-7 (4-1 Horizon) in doubles. Nico Mostardi returns for his senior season after going 16-6 (6-0 Horizon) in singles and 16-8 (3-1 Horizon) in doubles from the No. 1 court. 
 
Last season, Cleveland State finished 19-8 (6-0 Horizon League), edging past Temple, Dayton, Buffalo, Kennesaw State, and Youngstown State with 4-3 victories. The Vikings tallied four 7-0 sweeps on the season and were named the 2019 Horizon League Regular Season Champions. In the Horizon League Tournament, Cleveland State defeated IUPUI, 4-0, in the semifinal as well as UIC in the championship to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Vikings' postseason was cut short by a 4-0 loss to No. 1 ranked and No. 1 seeded Ohio State in the first round.