By Stephen Mason
With only four returning players and six newcomers on the roster this year, Tennessee men’s tennis is looking for a bounce-back season after a disappointing 2025-26 campaign. Four of these players saw action over the past weekend at the Rocky Top Invite.
Returning sophomore Shion Itsusaki and junior Woodson McMillin took to the court once again for the Volunteers, while Auburn transfer Alan Bojarski and freshman Martin Doskocil donned Tennessee orange for the first time.
Tennessee hosted four teams — Louisville, Indiana, Memphis and Middle Tennessee State — in the three-day tournament, which only impacted individual records.
Itsusaki and McMillin started off the weekend on a strong note, taking a doubles match 6-3 over the Louisville duo of Louis Chusseau and Preston Taylor. The doubles point was Tennessee’s Achilles’ heel last year, so a duo of returning players finding early success is a great sign for head coach Chris Woodruff and his staff.
Itsusaki continued to find success Friday afternoon, defeating Louisville’s Russell Lokko in a singles match 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-2. Bojarski started off his singles career on Rocky Top with a strong performance against Hamza El Amine of Louisville, beating him 6-3, 6-1.
On Saturday, the Volunteers lost both of their doubles matches; however, Doskocil found success in the afternoon with his first singles win in collegiate play. The 6-foot-5 Czech native defeated Memphis’ Alphie King 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
The weekend started with a statement performance by Itsusaki, and it ended in the same fashion Sunday. Facing Indiana’s Aryan Badlani, the Osaka, Japan, native fell behind early, losing the first set 6-7 (5).
However, he was able to take the second set 6-3, forcing a winner-take-all third set. Badlani jumped out to a 5-2 lead and looked poised to take the match, but Itsusaki was not going down without a fight. Managing to tie the set 6-6, the sophomore forced a tiebreaker, which he won 7-5.
While it was not a perfect weekend for the Tennessee squad, the Rocky Top Invite provided an opportunity for the returning players to refind their footing on their home court, and for the newcomers to get acclimated to playing in Knoxville.
Up Next: Tennessee will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the M15 Fayetteville from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4.