SEC Tennis: Florida men rally from 3-0 deficit

AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 10 Florida men’s tennis team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat No. 13 Alabama, 4-3, in Friday’s quarterfinals of the SEC Men’s Tennis Tournament at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The victory moved coach Andy Jackson’s team into the semifinals for the seventh straight year.

The Gators (17-7) dropped the doubles point and trailed 1-0. Carlos Cueto and Alex Lacroix, who had a 22-match winning streak over the last three months, fell to Alabama’s Rick Doverspike and Michael Thompson, 8-4. The Crimson Tide clinched the doubles point as Saketh Myneni and Billy Mertz scored an 8-4 victory over Florida’s Johnny Hamui and Jeff Dadamo.

The Crimson Tide quickly made it 3-0 with No. 22 Myneni scored a 6-4, 6-1 victory over No. 21 Cueto at No. 1 singles and Dan Bulkema of Alabama beat Antoine Benneteau, 6-4, 6-1.

But the Gators weren’t going to take an early flight home. Hamui started the comeback when he defeated Mertz, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 5 singles. Then Dadamo beat Michael Jung, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 6 singles to pull Florida within a point, 3-2.

Joey Burkhardt evened the match with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Alabama’s Thompson, leaving No. 30 Lacroix and No. 87 Mathieu Thiabaudeau to battle it out at No. 2 singles for the final team point. Lacroix took the first set, 6-4 but dropped the second 4-6. But then the Florida sophomore from Paris won the final set, 6-3.

That moved the Gators into Saturday’s semifinal round. No. 1 seed Mississippi, a 4-2 winner over No. 8 Louisiana State, will provide the opposition at noon EDT. The other semifinal matches No. 3 seed Tennessee and No. 2 Georgia at 4 p.m. The Volunteers beat No. 6 Kentucky, 4-2, while the Bulldogs beat No. 7 Auburn, 4-1.

SEC MEN’S TENNIS TOURNAMENT

At Yarbrough Tennis Center, Auburn, Ala.

All times EDT

FRIDAY’S QUARTERFINALS

(4) FLORIDA 4, (5) ALABAMA 3

DOUBLES

1. Antoine Benneteau/Joey Burkhardt (UF) vs. (26) Mathieu Thibaudeau/Dan Buikema, 5-7, DNF.

2. Saketh Myneni/Billy Mertz (UA) def. Jeff Dadamo/Johnny Hamui, 8-6.

3. Ricky Doverspike/Michael Thompson (UA) def. Carlos Cueto/Alex Lacroix, 8-4.

Alabama wins doubles point, 2-0.

SINGLES

1. (22) Saketh Myneni (UA) def. (21) Carlos Cueto, 6-4, 6-1.

2. (30) Alex Lacroix (UF) def. (87) Mathieu Thibaudeau, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.*

3. Dan Buikema (UA) def. Antoine Benneteau, 6-4, 6-1.

4. Joey Burkhardt (UF) def. Michael Thompson, 7-5, 6-1.

5. Johnny Hamui (UF) def. Billy Mertz, 6-4, 6-3.

6. Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Michael Jung, 7-5, 6-3.

(1) MISSISSIPPI 4, (8) LOUISIANA STATE 2

DOUBLES

1. (3) Michael Venus/Neal Skupski (LSU) def. (1) Bram ten Berge/Jonas Berg, 8-4.

2. Devin Britton/Tucker Vorster (UM) def. James Cluskey/Jonathan Tragardh, 9-7.

3. Kalie Norberg/Otto Sauer (UM) def. Sebastian Carlsson/Julien Gauthier, 8-6.

Mississippi won the doubles point, 2-1.

SINGLES

1. (6) Michael Venus (LSU) def. (16) Jonas Berg, 6-3, 7-5.

2. (37) Devin Britton (UM) def. James Cluskey, 6-2, 6-3.

3. (39) Kalle Norberg (UM) def. Neal Skipski, 6-3, 6-2.

4. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Bram ten Berge, 6-4, 6-4.

5. Marcel Thiemann (UM) def. Julien Gauthier, 7-5, 6-4.

5. Cristoph Thiemann (UM) vs. Mark Bowtell, 5-7, 6-1, 0-3, DNF.

(3) TENNESSEE 4, (6) KENTUCKY 2

DOUBLES

1. (5) John-Patrick Smith/Davey Sandgren (UT) def. (20) Bruno Agostinelli/Brad Cox, 8-4.

2. (42) Boris Conkic/Matteo Fago (UT) def. Graeme Dyce/Eric Quigley, 8-4.

3. Matt Brewer/Bryan Swartz (UT) vs. Alberto Gonzalez/Alex Musialek (UK) 5-6, DNF.

Tennessee wins doubles point, 2-0.

SINGLES

1. (8) John-Patrick Smith (UT) vs. (5) Bruno Agostinelli, 4-6, 6-3, 1-2, DNF.

2. (34) Boris Conkic (UT) def. Brad Cox, 6-2, 7-5.

3. (119) Eric Quigley (UK) def. Matteo Fago, 6-3, 6-2.

4. Alex Musialek (UK) def. Davey Sandgren, 6-2, 6-2.

5. Christian Hansen (UT) def. Graeme Dyce, 6-3, 7-5.

6. Matt Brewer (UT) def. Alberto Gonzalez, 6-2, 6-4.

(2) GEORGIA 4, (7) AUBURN 1

DOUBLES

1. Lukas Marsoun/Alex Stamchev (AU) def. (4) Jamie Hunt/Nate Schnugg, 8-6.

2. Alexey Tsyrenov/Alex Petropoulos (AU) def. Drake Bernstein/Javier Garrapiz, 8-6.

3. Borja Malo/Christian Vitulli (UG) vs. Milan Krnjetin/Michel Monteiro, 7-4, DNF.

Auburn wins doubles point, 2-0.

SINGLES

1. (11) Nate Schnugg (UG) def. (34) Alexey Tsyrenov, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.

2. (66) Javier Garrapiz (UG) def. Lukas Marsoun, 6-3, 6-0.

3. (78) Jamie Hunt (UG) vs. Alex Stamchev, 5-7, 4-4, DNF.

4. Josh Varela (UG) vs. Milan Krnjetin, 6-3, 4-6, 1-1, DNF.

5. Drake Bernstein (UG) def. Alex Petropoulos, 6-4, 6-3.

6. Christian Vitulli (UG) def. Michel Monteiro, 6-2, 6-0.

SATURDAY’S SEMIFINALS

Noon: (1) Mississippi vs. (4) Florida

4 p.m.: (3) Tennessee vs. (2) Georgia

SUNDAY’S CHAMPIONSHIP

2 p.m.: Semifinal winners