The No. 11 Florida men’s tennis team improved its record to 4-1 with a 7-0 victory over Florida Atlantic Saturday afternoon at the Linder Stadium/Ring Tennis Complex.
“We kept our momentum going into a very important event next weekend,” Florida coach Andy Jackson said. “Florida Atlantic has a good team, and we get everybody’s best shot, especially from other teams in Florida.”
It took only 34 minutes for Florida to clinch the doubles point. Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Joey Burkhardt earned an 8-3 victory at No. 2 doubles and Nassim Slilam and Daniel Cash won 8-0 at No. 3 to clinch the point. The No. 10-ranked doubles team of Antoine Benneteau and Alexandre Lacroix then beat FAU’s Marc Abdelnour and Lawrence Harradine, 8-6, after trailing 6-4.
Benneteau made it 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over FAU’s Joshua Scholl at No. 4 singles. Slilam then beat Derek Madon, 6-0, 6-4, to give Florida a 3-0 lead. Lacroix, who is ranked seventh nationally, then clinched the victory for Florida with a 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 1 singles over Abdelnour.
Florida picked up two more singles victories from freshmen Bangoura and Billy Federhofer as they both needed a third-set tiebreaker to win their matches. At No. 2 singles, Burkhardt beat Harradine 6-1 in the first set but lost the second set 2-6. Since the dual match had not been decided when the third set was started, it was played out. Harradine won the first three games but Burkhardt won the next five games and eventually won his match with a 6-4 third-set victory.
“I started well and had a lot of chances in the second set, but wound up losing,” Burkhardt said. “My confidence was low and my serve went down the drain, but I kept fighting. I’m a competitive person, so I never give up.”
The Gators compete in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship at 9 a.m. Friday in Charlottesville, Va., where they face No. 6 Baylor, which owns the only victory over Florida this season, 5-2 at Waco, Texas, on Jan. 24. Florida is guaranteed three matches in the event with the possibility of a fourth in the 16-team event. Florida’s next home date is on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m., against South Florida.
No. 11 FLORIDA 7, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 0
At Linder Stadium/Ring Tennis Complex, Gainesville, Fla.
Doubles
1. (10) Antoine Benneteau-Alexandre Lacroix (F) def. Marc Abdelnour-Lawrence Harradine, 8-6; 2. Sekou Bangoura Jr.-Joey Burkhardt (F) def. Derek Madon-Joshua Scholl, 8-3; 3. Daniel Cash-Nassim Slilam (F) def. Ervin Garabovic-Matthew Braunworth, 8-0. Order of finish: 2, 3, 1.
Singles
1. (7) Alexandre Lacroix (F) def. Marc Abdelnour, 6-2, 6-4; 2. Joey Burkhardt (F) def. Lawrence Harradine, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4; 3. Sekou Bangoura Jr. (F) def. Ervin Garabovic, 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-1); 4. Antoine Benneteau (F) def. Joshua Scholl, 6-1, 6-2; 5. Nassim Slilam (F) def. Derek Madon, 6-0, 6-4; 6. Billy Federhofer (F) def. Matthew Braunworth, 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6). Order to finish: 4, 5, 1, 6, 3, 2.
ITA MEN’S RANKINGS
As of Feb. 4
1. Southern California
2. Virginia
3. Ohio State
4. UCLA
5. Tennessee
6. Baylor
7. Georgia
8. Texas
9. Stanford
10. Mississippi
11. Florida
12. Illinois
13. Pepperdine
14. Kentucky
15. Wake Forest
16. Louisville
17. Texas A&M
18. Florida State
19. Alabama
20. Virginia Tech
21. Duke
22. North Carolina
23. Arizona
24. Washington
25. Wisconsin
ITA NATIONAL MEN’S TEAM INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
First-round pairings for Friday, Feb. 12 for seeded teams
No. 1 Southern California vs. No. 16 Fresno State, 12 p.m.
No. 8 Texas vs. No. 9 Stanford, 12 p.m.
No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 13 Kentucky, 3 p.m.
No. 5 Tennessee vs. No. 12 Illinois, 3 p.m.
No. 11 Florida vs. No. 6 Baylor, 9 a.m.
No. 14 Louisville vs. No. 3 Ohio State, 9 a.m.
No. 10 Mississippi vs. No. 7 Georgia, 6:30 p.m.
No. 15 Alabama vs. No. 2 Virginia, 6:30 p.m.
ITA SINGLES RANKINGS
As of Jan. 5
1. Steve Johnson (USC)
2. John-Patrick Smith (Tennessee)
3. Michael Shabaz (Virginia)
4. Guillermo Gomez (Georgia Tech)
5. Dimitar Kutrovsky (Texas)
6. Moriz Baumann (Wisconsin)
7. Alexandre Lacroix (Florida)
8. Eric Quigley (Kentucky)
9. Ed Corrie (Texas)
10. Andrei Daescu (Oklahoma)
11. Jordan Rux (Baylor)
12. Sanam Singh (Virginia)
13. Robin Fahgen (SMU)
14. Robert Farah (USC)
15. Oleksandr Nedovyesov (Oklahoma State)
16. Jarmere Jenkins (Virginia)
ITA DOUBLES RANKINGS
As of Jan. 5
1. Bradley Klahn-Ryan Thacher (Stanford)
2. Dennis Nevolo-Marek Czerwinski (Illinois)
3. Moritz Baumann-Marek Michalicka (Wisconsin)
4. Boris Conkic/John-Patrick Smith (Tennessee)
5. Houston Barrick-Sanam Singh (Virginia)
6. Alexander Stamchev-Tim Puetz (Auburn)
7. Davey Sandgren/John-Patrick Smith (Tennessee)
8. Henrique Cunha-Reid Carleton (Duke)
9. Brad Cox-Eric Quigley (Kentucky)
10. Alexandre Lacroix-Antoine Benneteau (Florida)
11. Maros Horny-Jordan Rux (Baylor)
12. Boris Conkic-Rhyne Williams (Tennessee)
13. Robert Farah-Steve Johnson (USC)
14. Austen Childs-Simon Childs (Louisville)
15. Aleksey Bessonov-Olehsandr Nedovyesov (Oklahoma State)
16. Lee Singer-Drew Courtney (Virginia)