No. 17 Men's Tennis Primed for Home Finales Against No. 16 Baylor and Arizona StateNo. 17 Men's Tennis Primed for Home Finales Against No. 16 Baylor and Arizona State

No. 17 Men's Tennis Primed for Home Finales Against No. 16 Baylor and Arizona State

by Ava Jessum

ORLANDO - This weekend promises an exciting lineup of events at the USTA National Campus as the No. 17 UCF men’s tennis team prepares to face Big 12 opponents No. 16 Baylor and No. 35 Arizona State. 

Baylor presents a formidable challenge, currently ranked No. 3 among Big 12 teams. The Knights have yet to compete against Arizona State, but they are determined to enhance their 2-2 record in conference play.

LAST TIME OUT

The Knights have had a week-long break from play, most recently facing BYU and Utah on the 21st and 23rd, respectively. 

Against the Cougars, the UCF men’s tennis team lost a close match to BYU, 4-2, which marked their first Big 12 away defeat of the season. Despite improving their doubles play this season, the Knights struggled as BYU took the early advantage. In singles play, Santiago Giamichelle secured his 100th career win with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory. However, BYU regained the lead with wins on courts two and six. Freshman Nicolas Oliveira delivered a strong performance, but the Cougars ultimately clinched the win with a 6-3, 7-6 victory on court three.

The Knights were eager to prove themselves as they faced Utah two days later. The Knights fell behind early on after the Utes claimed the doubles point. However, strong singles performances led to four consecutive points, bringing the Knights back to .500 in Big 12 play. 

Liam Branger and Paul Colin secured a 7-5 win on the front court, while Mehdi Benchakroun and Santiago Giamichelle pushed their match into a tiebreak before falling. UCF responded with four first-set wins, emphasized by Benchakroun’s tiebreak triumph and Yassine Dlimi’s straight-set sweep. Freshman Nicolas Oliveira and Giamichelle added victories, with Benchakroun clinching the final win on court two.

QUICK HITS

  • The Knights have moved up a spot in the latest ITA rankings, currently sitting at No. 17. Marking the ninth consecutive week inside the top-25 and seventh-consecutive among the top 20.
  • Junior Yassine Dlimi has moved up 13 spots to sit at No. 77 in the singles rankings. Fellow junior Mehdi Benchakroun follows shortly behind at No. 86. Both juniors have been playing exceptionally well for the Knights this season, combining for a 25-10 record while leading the squad on courts one and two.
  • UCF is currently fourth in the Big 12 conference, sitting just below Arizona. While No. 2 TCU leads the league, No. 16 Baylor sits in second, making for a contested matchup on Thursday in Orlando.

Baylor - Thursday at 6:00 p.m. ET

The Black and Gold last faced Baylor during their inaugural season in the Big 12. It was during that matchup that the Knights swept Baylor 4-0, marking their first win in the conference. Baylor currently sits at No. 16 in the ITA rankings following a 17-8 season thus far. The team is led by head coach Michael Woodson, who is currently in his fifth season with the team.

On the court, the Bears boast two ranked singles players, No. 36 Devin Badenhorst and No. 100 Zsombor Velcz, along with a pair of ranked doubles tandems.

Arizona State - Sunday at noon ET

The Sun Devils will be traveling to Orlando to play at the USTA National Campus on Sunday. The Knights have yet to face No. 35 Arizona State since joining the Big 12 and the matchup will mark the first all-time between the two programs. The Sun Devils are currently 11-8 overall and 2-3 and conference play, with wins over Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.

39th-ranked Bor Artnak leads the squad’s singles display, boasting an impressive 11-4 record on court one, while also playing a role in a pair of ranked doubles pairings.