Louisville Plays Host to No. 24 Northwestern, Eastern Kentucky in Sunday Doubleheader

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's tennis team remains home for its second consecutive doubleheader this Sunday when the Cardinals play host to No. 24 Northwestern at 12 p.m. followed by Eastern Kentucky at 5 p.m. at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Admission is free.

The Cards went 2-0 in their season-opening doubleheader on Thursday, defeating UIC 7-0 and Bellarmine 6-1 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Freshmen André Steinbach and Will Mayew both picked up their first colligate dual match victories.

The Cards begin the spring season with four players ranked inside the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) top-125 singles rankings. Sophomore Natan Rodrigues leads the way at No. 25, marking the first top 25 showing by a Cardinal since 2014-15. Graduate student Fabien Salle stands at No. 36, while senior Etienne Donnet is slotted at No. 42. Senior Matthew Fung rounded out the ranked Cardinals at No. 61.

Louisville also had two pairs in the ITA top 60 doubles rankings. Salle and Rodrigues launched into the top 10 at No. 9 after appearing at No. 48 in the preseason polls. David Mizrahi and Will Mayew secured the No. 58 spot after a strong showing in the fall season.

The Cardinals posted a 19-9 overall record in the 2021-22 season while finishing 9-3 in ACC play. Louisville was able to reach its first ACC semifinal since joining the conference in 2014-2015 and made the program's 13th NCAA tournament appearance.

The Cards return six letter winners from a season ago, including Donnet who was an All-ACC first-team selection playing a majority of the season at the No. 1 spot.

Scouting the Opponents
#24 Northwestern, Jan. 22 - 12 p.m. | Live Scoring | Live Stream
Series Record: Northwestern leads 7-9
Last Meeting: Jan. 23, 2022 - Northwestern defeated Louisville 4-2 in Evanston, Ill.
About the Wildcats: Northwestern is currently 3-0, including a 4-3 win over No. 19 NC State. The Wildcats finished the 2021-22 season with a 20-11 overall record and 6-3 record in Big Ten action. The Wildcats made it to the NCAA tournament where they defeated East Tennessee State in the first round 4-0. However, Northwestern fell short against national runner-up Kentucky 2-4 in the second round.

EKU, Jan. 22 - 5 p.m.
Series Record: Louisville leads 28-11 | Live Scoring | Live Stream
Last Meeting: April 7, 2015 - Louisville defeated EKU 6-1 at the Bass-Rudd Tenis Center.
About the Colonels: Eastern Kentucky holds a 1-1 record, defeating Campbellsville 6-1 on Wednesday. The win marked the first for the program since 2017 as the Colonels reinstated their tennis program after the program was cut following the 2016-17 season. In that season, the Colonels finished with a 16-10 overall record and 4-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. UofL is 16-2 in home matches against EKU,

Up Next
Louisville will travel to Athens, Ga. to compete in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Cards will take on Miami on Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. and then matchup against either No. 7 Georgia or LSU on Jan. 30

Louisville Plays Host to No. 24 Northwestern, Eastern Kentucky in Sunday Doubleheader

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Players Mentioned

Will Mayew

Fabien Salle

University of Louisville Athletics