No. 15 Men's Tennis Set for Super Regionals Clash at No. 2 TCUNo. 15 Men's Tennis Set for Super Regionals Clash at No. 2 TCU

No. 15 Men's Tennis Set for Super Regionals Clash at No. 2 TCU

by Alex Clough

FORT WORTH, Texas - Embarking on uncharted territory against a familiar opponent, Saturday’s NCAA Super Regional clash with No. 2 TCU will be a historic day for the UCF men’s tennis program.

After dismantling the field during a pair of dominating first and second-round triumphs in Orlando, the 15th-ranked Knights punched their ticket to the team’s first appearance in the last 16. Their reward? A third meeting with the reigning national champions and Big 12 regular-season titleholders, a contest which will serve as a rubber match after the squad split their first two contests this season.

First serve at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center will be at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT, with the winner set to make another return to the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, for the final eight.

LAST TIME OUT

Placed with arguably the most difficult regional in the nation, made of three teams within the ITA top-40, the Knights never wavered over two brilliant displays, outscoring Miami and Florida 8-2.

Their first bout with the 39th-ranked Hurricanes, the first team to hand them a loss this season, set the tone with an emphatic doubles performance. Taking courts two and three, UCF jumped out to four first-set leads in singles before Santiago Giamichelle clinched his second consecutive NCAA first-round victory for his team on court five.

His opening round clinch from a season ago came against Florida, then serving as the squad’s first win over the Gators and second-ever bid into the second round. Now, just 365 days later, UCF commanded the duel from start to finish to tally its first round of 32 victories in program history.

A tight doubles point fell the Knights’ way after Liam Branger and Paul Colin prevailed over 15th-ranked Tanapatt Nirundorn and Henry Jefferson. While the Gators got on the board to cut UCF’s 2-0 lead in half, the Knights were winding down on three wins of their own, with Mehdi Benchakroun eventually securing his team-leading seventh clinch of the season on court two.

QUICK HITS

  • The Horned Frogs will become the second opponent the Knights have faced three times this season, joining fellow super regional contestants No. 10 Arizona. While TCU claimed a 4-2 regular-season win in Orlando, UCF bounced back with a 4-3 comeback victory in the Big 12 semifinals in April, a win which pushed the squad into hosting range.
  • Both Benchakroun and Yassine Dlimi have been side-by-side throughout a historic 2025 campaign. The tandem is both among the top 90 in the ITA singles rankings, with each holding 17 dual-match wins to their name and a spot on the All-Big 12 singles first team.
  • UCF holds one of the nation's best records against top-10 opponents, with a 4-2 record highlighting a resilient mentality from the squad. Prior to head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess' arrival at UCF fall of 2023, the program played 838 matches at the DI level without a top-10 win; now, just 56 duels into his tenure, it has four.

ABOUT THE HORNED FROGS

  • March 14 - TCU def. UCF 4-2: Recap
  • April 19 - UCF def. TCU 4-3: Recap

Prior Meetings

The last three contests between the programs have been separated by just four combined points. A 4-3 TCU win in Fort Worth last season was followed by a 4-2 Horned Frogs win in March, before UCF overcame a 3-0 deficit to take their last meeting 4-3.

TCU’s Path to the Super Regionals

A first-round sweep over Abilene Christian in Fort Worth was followed by a contested round of 32 bout with No. 24 Oklahoma. While TCU claimed the doubles point, Oklahoma pushed the contest to two-all as a trio of three-setters decided the match. It was the front court tandem of Jack Pinninsgton and Lui Maxted that held it down, with the latter prevailing in a third-set tiebreak to clinch the duel.

The Squad

With Pedro Vives set to make his return to singles play, TCU authors one of the fiercest front-lineups in the nation, with Vives, Pinnington and Maxted each having spent time among the ITA top-10 this season. Prominent freshmen Roger Pascual, Albert Pedrico and Cooper Woestendick bolster the NCAA titleholders' singles display.

In doubles, Vives and Maxted currently rank second in the nation, presenting a tall task for Branger and Colin if the duos were to meet on court one Saturday. The squad’s split their doubles points in the first two meetings this campaign.