After a sensational freshman season, Tennessee sophomore John-Patrick Smith is not slowing down.
Smith made it a sweep of Southeastern Conference Coaches’ Indoor Championships on Monday by winning the singles title 6-1, 6-4 over Florida’s Carlos Cueto at Lexington, Ky.
Smith teams with Davey Sandgren to win the doubles title Sunday.
“The SEC indoors is a prestigious tournament and for J.P. to come in and win the singles is an incredible accomplishment,” head coach Sam Winterbotham said.
Cueto, ranked 88th, knocked off the nation’s second-ranked player, Michael Venus of LSU, in the semifinals.
It is UT’s first SEC indoor singles title since Peter Handoyo won the tournament in 2002. Smith advanced to the finals with a straight-set win over Mississippi’s Devin Britton, 6-2, 7-6(7).
“The SEC is one of the toughest conferences in the country,” said Smith, ranked 50th. “Since I’ve been at UT I’ve worked hard and I think the results are paying off.
Smith went 9-0 at the indoors counting singles and doubles matches.
Last season, Smith was named SEC Freshman of the Year. He was named All-America, first team All-SEC, Region III Rookie of the Year and advanced to the championship match of the NCAA singles tournament.
UT begins the dual-match season Saturday when it hosts a doubleheader. The eighth-ranked Vols face 37th-ranked ETSU at 10:30 a.m. and then conclude the day against Tennessee Wesleyan at 4 p.m. All matches at the Goodfriend Indoor Tennis Center are free to the public.
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Comments » 4
john#208876 writes:
What's the matter? Get beat by your little sister and gave up the game?
Great job JP! GO VOLS!
CHS52VOL writes:
I 2nd the motion - in both singles and doubles. GO VOLS!
BillVol writes:
Great job, JP! With JP at singles and doubles, we have an almost automatic two points going into every match. You just need four points to win a college match, so we should be in for a great season from the Tennis Vols this year.
TrouserCough writes:
J.P. on to the national singles title! Great stuff.
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