No. 13 Men’s Tennis Set to Host ITA Kickoff

Friday, January 23

11 AM

Columbia University

Florida/Kentucky

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Lem Photography

1/22/2026 12:21:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Lions take on No. 25 Illinois on Friday, Kentucky/Florida on Saturday

NEW YORK – The 13th-ranked Columbia men's tennis team is set to battle a loaded field as the Lions serve as a regional host in the ITA Kickoff this weekend at the Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.

The ITA Kickoff Weekend features 56 programs looking to advance to the ITA National Indoor Championships in February. 14 schools, one from each of the 14 host sites during ITA Kickoff Weekend, will join Baylor and SMU, which automatically qualified by being hosts of the ITA Indoor Nationals, at the 16-team event from Feb. 13-17 in Texas.

As the top seed in the four-team regional, Columbia will host No. 23 Kentucky, No. 25 Illinois, and Florida, which are receiving votes in the latest ITA team rankings. The Lions will face the Illini on Friday at 3 p.m. Friday's winner will play the winner of Florida/Kentucky, who square off on Friday at 11 a.m.

The Lions are looking to return to the ITA Indoor Championships for the second consecutive year, having won the ITA Kickoff last season with a thrilling 4-2 win over then-No. 24 Florida.

LIVE COVERAGE
Action from the Milstein Family Tennis Center this weekend will be broadcast live through the Cracked Racquets YouTube channel. Fans can also follow live scores online for all four matches.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Lions battled No. 18 South Carolina, falling 4-3 at the Philip & Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center. The Lions, playing without the nation's top-ranked player in Michael Zheng, battled back from a 2-0 deficit after dropping the doubles point. Columbia secured wins at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 6 singles courts… Seniors Nicolas Kotzen and Sachin Palta led the Lions with wins at No. 1 and No. 2. Aditya Govila was the winner on court 6.

ZHENG DOWN UNDER
Back-to-back singles national champion Michael Zheng saw his incredible run at the Australian Open come to an end Tuesday evening when he retired from his match against No. 32 Corentin Moutet of France. Zheng qualified for the Main Draw by winning three matches in the qualifying draw. He then opened the tournament with a thrilling five-set win over American Sebastian Korda in five sets, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 6-3 for his first career victory in a Grand Slam Main Draw. Zheng became the first Columbia men's tennis player to reach the main draw of a singles at a major since Phil Williamson qualified for the US Open in 1993.

THE OPPONENTS
Illinois enters Friday's match ranked No. 25 in the latest ITA team rankings. The Illini are 0-1 on the year after falling to No. 7 Mississippi State 5-2 at home last weekend. Kentucky enters this weekend 3-0 and is ranked No. 23 in the latest ITA rankings. The Wildcats are fresh off a 5-2 win over No. 20 Michigan State at home. Florida is receiving votes in the ITA rankings. They are 1-0 after defeating South Florida 4-3 last Saturday.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday will mark the first time the Lions and Illini have faced in a dual. Last year, Columbia traveled to Champaign-Urbana for the Fighting Illini Invite. Against Florida, the Lions are 1-6 all-time in a series that dates back to 1968. Last time out, Columbia defeated Florida 4-2 on January 26, 2025, to punch the Lions' ticket to the ITA Indoor Team Championships. The Wildcats and Lions have met once, a 7-1 Columbia win on March 15, 1977.

TEAM INFO
No. 25 Illinois
Roster | Schedule | Stats

Florida
Roster | Schedule | Stats

No. 23 Kentucky
Roster | Schedule | Stats

FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Men's Tennis by following the Lions on X (@CULionsMTEN), Instagram (@culionsmten) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).