STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 7 Florida men’s tennis team responded to its first home loss of the season Friday night by cruising past Mississippi State, 6-1, Sunday. The victory took away some of the bitter taste from the 4-2 SEC loss to Mississippi in Gainesville.
The afternoon began on a positive note as all three UF doubles teams came away with victories to earn the doubles point.
Freshman Carlos Cueto and sophomore Alex Lacroix downed Ryan Farlow and Antonio Lastre, 8-3, to begin the victory. Sophomores Jeff Dadamo and Johnny Hamui followed with an 8-3 victory over Louis Cant and Artem Ilyushin that clinched the doubles point. The 16th-ranked doubles team of Antoine Benneteau and Joey Burkhardt completed the sweep with an 8-4 win against Chris Doerr and Tanner Stump.
Florida (12-6 overall, 3-3 SEC) carried the doubles momentum over to singles play, earning victories in the first four matches. Burkhardt finished first with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Lastre for his 23rd victory of the season.
Dadamo put Florida up 3-0 in the match when he beat Stump in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5.
No. 24 Cueto then clinched the match for Florida by downing Farlow, 6-4, 6-1. The victory snapped a three-match losing streak by Cueto.
Benneteau gave Florida a 5-0 lead by beating Cant, 6-0, 6-3.
Mississippi State fell to 5-10 overall and 1-5 in SEC play.
The Gators return to Gainesville for their final two home matches of the season next weekend against LSU on Friday at 3 p.m. and Arkansas on Sunday at 1 p.m. The team will conduct a post-match clinic for children eighth grade and below following Sunday’s play.
FLORIDA 6, MISSISSIPPI STATE 1
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, Starkville, Miss.
DOUBLES
1. Antoine Benneteau/Joey Burkhardt (UF) def. Chris Doerr/Tanner Stump, 8-4.
2. Jeff Dadamo/Johnny Hamui (UF) def. Louis Cant/Artem Ilyushin, 8-3.
3. Carlos Cueto/Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Ryan Farlow/Antonio Lastre, 8-3.
Florida wins doubles point.
SINGLES
1. Carlos Cueto (UF) def. Ryan Farlow, 6-4, 6-1.
2. Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Alex Lacroix , 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (13-11).
3. Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Louis Cant, 6-0, 6-3.
4. Joey Burkhardt (UF) def. Antonio Lastre, 6-1, 6-1.
5. Johnny Hamui (UF) def. Chris Doerr, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
6. Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Tanner Stump, 6-1, 7-5.
Order of finish: Doubles – 3, 2, 1; Singles – 4, 6, 1, 3, 2, 5.