Kai Lemke

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Andrew Watson and Kai Lemke, 2017 MTennis

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Photo by: Lance Murphey

Photo by: Grant Shorin

Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Trebur, Germany
Prev School:
Immanuel-Kant

2016-17 – Junior
Fall 2016
Singles – Went 6-3 in singles play … earned first victory of the fall against Tulane’s Sebastian Rey, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, at the Alabama Invitational … secured first ranked win of the season against Oklahoma State’s No. 98 Lucas Gerch, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(0-1) in the ITA All-American Qualifier … Advanced to the ITA Ohio Valley Regional round of 16 with wins against Zak Khan of Belmont (6-2, 6-0), Middle Tennessee’s Max Rauch (6-4, 3-6, 6-2) and Tennessee’s Scott Jones (4-6, 7-5, 6-2).

Doubles – Gained a 6-3 win alongside teammate Matt Story against Columbia’s Victor Pham/Jackie Tang at the Alabama Invitational … knocked off Constantin Schmitz/Luis Erlenbusch of Tulane 8-5 with partner Felix Rauch at the Alabama Invitational … teamed up with Andrew Watson at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional … the tandem defeated Beasley/Luetschwager of IUPUI 8-2 in the opening round of the Regional … the pair downed Vanderbilt’s Newman/Virtanen 8-6 in the round of 32 … duo claimed final win of the season against Herrera/Nunez of ETSU to advance to the quarterfinal round.

Spring 2017
Singles – Registered a 12-9 singles record in dual match play, primarily at the No. 3 position … began the season 2-0 with wins against Michigan State’s Jasper Koenen (2-6, 6-1, 6-2) and LSU’s Nikola Samardzic (4-6, 6-4, 6-4) … swept Jackson State’s Joan Sanson and Alawi Andrey in 6-0, 6-0 decisions … earned first ranked win of the season against Oklahoma State’s No. 62 Lukas Finzelberg in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) … followed with a pair of wins against San Diego State’s S. Gjoels-Andersen (6-2, 6-4) and Connor Curry of Texas Tech (7-6[9-7], 6-4) … claimed first conference win of the season against SMU’s Samm Butler (6-4, 5-7, 6-1) … punched a straight-set victory against FGCU’s Oliver Landert (6-0, 6-1) … registered a 6-0, 6-1 victory against SMU’s Markus Kerner in the first round of the conference tournament … won last match of the season with a 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 victory against Akihiro Tanaka of Oregon at the NCAA Tournament.

Doubles – Paired with Andrew Watson for the dual season at the No. 1 position … faced seven nationally ranked pairs, including five in the Top 30 … went 9-9 in spring doubles play … began the season 2-0 with a pair of wins against Michigan State’s Jasper Koenen/Michael Dube (6-2) and LSU’s Jordan Daigle/Justin Butsch (6-3) … claimed three-straight wins beginning with a victory against Jackson State’s Stylianos Gkontsaris/Ryan Swanier 6-0 … downed Cornell’s David Volfson/Colin Sinclar 6-3 … knocked off San Diego State’s Marko Goles-Babic/Milen Ianakiev 6-3 … matched their season-best three-match win streak, all coming in the final three matches of conference play … claimed a 6-3 win against SMU’s Yates Johnson/Markus Kerner … swept Tulane’s top pair of Constantin Schmitz/Chi-Shan Jao 6-0 … claimed a ranked win in their final victory of the year against USF’s No. 35 Sasha Gozun/Alberto Barroso 6-3.

2015-16 – Sophomore
Fall 2015
Singles – Collected a 11-4 ledger in tournament play … won first two matches of the fall season against Tennessee Tech’s Eduardo Mena, and notched a ranked win against ETSU’s No. 88 David Biosca at the Southern Intercollegiate … downed William & Mary’s Aiden Talcott in the first round of the ITA All-American Prequalifier … defeated ETSU’s Ricardo Pabon 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and Butler’s Mason Dragos 6-4, 6-0 to reach the Round of 32 at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional … claimed four victories in the qualifying rounds at the USA F31 Futures Tournament to earn a spot in the Main Draw, defeated USA’s Dylan Roberts (6-0, 6-0); Bahamas native Justin Roberts (2-6, 6-1, 7-6); German Joel Link (7-5, 6-7, 6-2) and Argentina’s Luciano Betella (6-0, 5-7, 6-3) … capped the fall season with a pair of wins at the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational, knocking off Kentucky’s Enzo Wallart 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and downing Boris Arias of LSU 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.

Doubles – Teamed up with Louis Asser to post a 6-3 mark in doubles play … landed victories in their first four doubles matches of the season, knocking off Arkansas’ Albanese/den Toom (8-5), Georgia’s Montgomery/Oosterbaan (8-3), Armstrong’s Cerin/Gor (8-5) and teammates Ryan Peniston/Felix Rauch (6-3, 6-1) before falling to the No. 1 duo of Austin Smith/Ben Wagland of Georgia in the Southern Intercollegiate final … the Tiger tandem claimed tallied two more wins at the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational, downing Kentucky duo Ellefsen/Lai (6-4) and LSU’s No. 35-ranked team of Freund/Butsch (7-6).

Spring 2016
Singles – Posted an 11-10 record in the spring season, with all matches coming at the No. 3 position … dropped his first decision of the season against No. 40 Paul Oosterbaan of Georgia, but rebounded with a four-match win streak … downed Luke Saunders of Chattanooga 6-0, 6-3 … knocked off Cameron Klinger of Vanderbilt 6-2, 7-6 … defeated Harvard’s Brian Yeung in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 … rallied to beat Gustav Hansson of Ole Miss 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 … snapped a three-match skid with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Pepperdine’s Gabriel Sidney at the San Diego Invitational… earned second win of the San Diego Invitational with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against SDSU’s Milen Ianakiev … jumpstarted a five-match win streak with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Miguel Gomez Martin of Jackson State … notched first conference victory in 6-1, 6-3 fashion against Temple’s Uladzimir Dorash … downed UAPB’s Jualon Greig 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (10-2) … defeated MTSU’s Dima Zyhmantovich 6-3, 6-0 … claimed a 6-1, 6-3 victory against VCU’s Catalin Fifea for final victory of the spring.

Doubles – Teamed up with Louis Asser to compile an 11-12 ledger, all at the No. 1 spot … tallied a season-long five match win streak, and garnered wins in seven of eight matches, down the stretch of the season … dropped their first three matches of the season (all to top-60 duos), but answered with wins of 6-2 and 6-1 against Chattanooga’s Peacey/Llebeili and Murray State’s True/Hess, respectively … downed the No. 44-ranked duo of Haughey/Lam of Harvard by a final of 6-2 … notched an AAC win against No. 53 duo Johnson/Johnson of SMU, 6-3 … capped the San Diego Invitational with a pair of wins, starting with a 6-3 decision against SDSU’s team of Cevallos/Ianakiev … defeated Fox/Gasson of Denver 6-3 … earned a 6-0 sweep against Jackson State’s Rulz/Agarwal … picked up their second conference win of the year with a 6-4 decision against Temple’s Belkssir/Naran … defeated Rahman/Greig of UABP by a score of 6-2 … took a pair of matches at the Middle Tennessee Invitational, beginning with a 6-2 win against MTSU’s Morell/Cordero … downed VCU tandem Lima/Monfils 7-5 to cap their season-best five-match win streak.

2014-15 – Freshman
Fall 2014
Singles – Collected a 1-2 mark in limited action throughout tournament play … earned first win of the fall with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory against FGCU’s Ventura at the Illini Invite.

Doubles – Posted a 1-2 record playing alongside Connor Glennon … punched their first doubles win against Illinois’ Page/Vukic (6-3) at the Illini Invite.

Spring 2015
Singles – Posted a record of 13-4 in dual-match play, including an 8-1 mark at the Nos. 3 and 4 positions combined … 12 of his 13 victories were in straight-set fashion … went 3-1 in conference matches … collected first wins of the season in double-header against against Nic Wilson of Chattanooga and Srdjan Trosic of Murray State in straight sets … downed Michigan State’s Michael Dube 6-3, 6-3 … picked up a pair of conference wins with straight-set triumphs against Temple’s Vineet Naran (6-2, 6-4) and Tulane’s Chi-Shan Jao (6-4, 6-3) … defeated Pepperdine’s Tom Hill 6-2, 6-2 … beat Jackson State’s Miguel Gomez Martin 6-0, 6-1 … ended the season with a six-match win streak, starting with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 decision against South Alabama’s G. Gruindelingh … downed Sajid Rahman of UAPB twice in a double header, winning 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1 … defeated Middle Tennessee’s Gian Issa 6-3, 7-6(7-5) … knocked off VCU’s Joseph Cohen 6-1, 6-2 … capped the regular season with a 6-1, 6-3 win against UCF’s Chris Barrus.

Doubles – Collected a 14-5 record in dual-match play … teamed up with Connor Glennon to go 12-5 at the No. 1 position … won a pair matches with classmate Ryan Peniston as his partner … started the season 4-0 alongside Glennon … downed the No. 60-ranked duo of Harrington/Augusto of Clemson 6-4 to start the year … defeated Duke’s Hemmeler/Alvarez 6-3 … claimed double-header wins against Wilson/Plesky of Chattanooga (6-1) and Hess/McLean of Murray State (6-0) … notched a pair of conference wins with victories against Temples Paulus/Belkssir (6-1) and Tulane’s Koepfer/Jao (6-2) … swept Jackson State’s Martinez/Buscarino 6-0 … earned another league win against SMU’s Kazijevs/Kerner 6-1 … swept a double header against UAPB alongside Peniston with a 6-1 win against Vieira/Greig and a 6-0 victory against Butler/Carroll … downed VCU’s Molfils/Cohen 6-1 in tandem with Glennon … closed the regular season with a 7-6 win against Barrus/Espindola of UCF … Earned a pair of ranked wins in the conference tournament, downing No. 55 duo of Kernoer/Kazijevs of SMU (6-4) and No. 31 team of Pramming/Roberts of USF (6-4).

Prep
Played a handful of ITF Juniors events ... Won a singles and doubles title at the Head Cup powered by Steinfeger Immobilien in Bruchkobel, Germany ... Upended the No. 15 seed in the finals, 6-1, 6-1 ... Defeated three seeded players in the draw for the singles title despite not being seeded himself.

Personal
Son of Juergen and Nicole Lemke … was also recruited by Miami, North Carolina State, Mississippi State and Auburn.