Gator Country

The No. 7 Florida men’s tennis team downed Auburn, 5-2, Friday in Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex. The victory lifted coach Andy Jackson’s Gators to 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference and 11-2 overall heading into Sunday’s home match at 1 p.m. against Alabama.

“I thought we played really well today,” Jackson said. “Auburn showed that it is making a lot of progress, and I think this will help us going into Sunday’s (home) match against Alabama.”

The Gators started well on doubles, with the 43rd-ranked pair of Joey Burkhardt and Sekou Bangoura Jr. winning five consecutive games to close out the match, 8-3. Florida’s No. 16 duo of Antoine Benneteau and Alexandre Lacroix secured the doubles point for Florida with an 8-4 victory over No. 7 Tim Puetz and Alex Stamchev on Court 1.

Bangoura was the first off the court in singles with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at the No. 5 position over Oliver Strecker in 73 minutes. Nassim Slilam gained his 10th straight triumph on Court 6 with a 6-3, 6-3 victory to give Florida a 3-0 lead. Bangoura and Slilam combined are 23-2 playing at Nos. 5 and 6 for Florida this season.

“In my opinion, Nassim is an extremely high-level player,” Jackson said. “We’ve taken it slow with him. That he’s had a lot of success doesn’t surprise me, but it’s going to be difficult to keep that going because we’ll continue to play some very good teams.”

After a rare singles loss by Benneteau, just his second in dual match play, the sixth-ranked Lacroix put together the clinching point for the Gators. The second set played on serve until the final game when Lacroix broke No. 26 Puetz to take the match, 7-5, 7-5, his 15th victory over a ranked opponent this school year.

“Alex is a guy who can play that top spot and come through when you need him,” Jackson said. “I believe he’s a top-10 player in singles and doubles.”

In a pair of three-setters that concluded after UF had clinched the victory, Burkhardt fell to Tim Hewitt on Court 2 and Bob Van Overbeek outlasted Lucas Lopasso in a tiebreaker at the No. 4 position to wrap up the match.

No. 7 FLORIDA 5, AUBURN 2
At Linder Stadium/Ring Tennis Complex, Gainesville, Fla.
DOUBLES
1. (16) Antoine Benneteau-Alexandre Lacroix (F) def. (7) Tim Puetz-Alex Stamchev, 8-4; 2. (43) Sekou Bangoura Jr.-Joey Burkhardt (F) def. Andreas Mies-Michel Montiero, 8-3; 3. Tim Hewitt-Lucas Lopasso (A) def. Daniel Cash-Bob Van Overbeek, 9-8 (5). Order of finish: 2, 1, 3. Florida wins doubles point.
SINGLES
1. (6) Alexandre Lacroix (F) def. (26) Tim Puetz, 7-5, 7-5; 2. Tim Hewitt (A) def. Joey Burkhardt, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1; 3. (89) Alex Stamchev (A) def. (121) Antoine Benneteau, 7-5, 6-3; 4. Bob Van Overbeek (F) def. Lucas Lopasso, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5); 5. Sekou Bangoura Jr. (F) def. Oliver Strecker, 6-3, 6-2; 6. Nassim Slilam (F) def. Michael Wardell, 6-3, 6-3. Order of finish: 5, 6, 3, 1, 2, 4.
Records: Auburn 3-7 (0-3 SEC); Florida 11-2 (3-0 SEC).

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