Kentucky men’s tennis ended its season on May 1 with a narrow 4-3 loss to California in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center in Columbus, Ohio.
The match marked Kentucky’s tenth consecutive appearance and its thirty-third overall in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats, ranked No. 25, finished their season with a record of 17-14, while California improved to 17-13.
Kentucky started strong by securing the doubles point after wins on courts one and three. In singles play, freshmen Nicolas and Mikael Arseneault earned victories for Kentucky, but California responded by winning matches on courts one, three, four, and five to advance to the second round.
In doubles competition, Fryderyck Lechino-Wasiutyski and Tiago Silva gave California an early lead with a win over Martin Breysach and Charlelie Cosnet. Kentucky answered as Jack Loutit and Eli Stephenson defeated Alex Aney and Timofey Stepanov. The Wildcats clinched the doubles point when Nicolas Arseneault and Jaden Weekes won their match in a tiebreaker.
During singles play, Bernardo Munk Mesa tied the score for California before Mikael Arseneault put Kentucky back ahead with his victory over Winson Lee. Paris Pouatcha then evened things up again for California by defeating Cosnet. Nicolas Arseneault’s win gave Kentucky another brief lead before Stepanov leveled it once more by overcoming Stephenson on court one. The deciding match came down to court five where Lenn Luemkemann secured victory for California against Loutit after three sets.
Looking ahead, fans can follow updates about Kentucky men’s tennis through their official X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram accounts at @UKMensTennis.
