| Louisville at #20 UCF Sunday, Jan. 30 | 11:00 AM LIVE STATS | WATCH | #14 Stanford vs Tulane Sunday, Jan. 30 | 2:00 PM LIVE STATS | WATCH |
| Consolation Match Monday, Jan. 31 | 10:00 AM LIVE STATS | WATCH | Championship Match Monday, Jan. 31 | 1:00 PM LIVE STATS | WATCH |
ORLANDO, Fla. – The No. 20 UCF men's tennis team is set to host the ITA Kickoff Weekend for the first time in program history, welcoming Louisville, No. 14 Stanford, and Tulane on Sunday and Monday, January 30-31, at the USTA National Campus.
UCF will take on Louisville in the opening match on Sunday, January 30, at 11:00 a.m. before playing either Stanford or Tulane the following day, depending on the result of each match. The two winners from day one will face off in the championship match on January 31 as they'll look to punch their ticket to ITA National Indoors.
Admission to each match is free for all spectators. Additionally, all matches will have live stats and will be live streamed.
UCF has two matches under its belt against a pair of top-10 teams, including the defending national champions, Florida. Despite dropping both matches, the Knights rank No. 20 in this week's ITA team poll.
In the ITA end of fall rankings, Trey Hilderband earned his highest singles ranking of 16th. In doubles, Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel were ranked No. 22 while Hilderbrand and Lleyton Cronje also earned a top 50 ranking of 41.
THE FIELD
THE CARDINALS
Louisville is 2-2 on the season with a pair of wins over Dayton and Bellarmine at home while dropping matches to No. 11 Kentucky and Northwestern on the road.
The Knights lead the all-time series over the Cardinals, 2-1, while Louisville won the last meeting over UCF in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in back in 2017.
THE CARDINAL
No. 14 Stanford is 1-0 on the season after defeating Pepperdine, 5-2.
Stanford has one highly ranked singles player in No. 7 Arthur Fery who was the 2021 Pac-12 Champion and has two tandems ranked: No. 8 Arthur Fery and Alexandre Rotsaert and No. 31 Max Basing and Timothy Sah.
Last season, the Cardinal defeated No. 40 LSU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 4-0, before falling to No. 5 Virginia, 2-4, in the second round.
UCF and Stanford met for the first and only time in the 2019 ITA Kickoff Weekend where the Cardinal got the 4-1 win.
THE GREENWAVE
Tulane is 2-0 this season after defeating Cal, 4-3, and Alcorn State, 7-0.
Last season, Tulane topped No. 42 Middle Tennessee, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 14 Ole Miss in the second round.
Tulane leads the all-time series over UCF, 6-4, but the Knights have won the last two matchups.
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS
Follow UCF Men's Tennis on social media on Facebook (/UCF.MTennis), Twitter (UCF_MTennis) and Instagram (UCF.MTennis).
GET THE APP
Never miss any UCF Knights news from your favorite team by downloading the free UCF Knights app right to your iOS or Android phone! The app provides personalized information for men's and women's teams, scores, schedules, loyalty programs and even breaking news. Click here to download the app now.