ORLANDO, Fla. – After playing one of the toughest schedules in college tennis to this point in the season, and coming away with some big victories, the UCF men's tennis team sits at No. 24 in the Oracle/ITA team rankings, a program record. New rankings also debuted for singles and doubles, the first release of the 2020 dual-match season.
The nod comes after the Knights split their ACC road trip. UCF gave Wake Forest all the Demon Deacons could handle, but wound up being edged in the match after some tough third sets. The Black and Gold went into Virginia and dismantled the Cavaliers, winning 6-1 to close out the ACC swing. The Knights currently sit at 3-3 on the season, with all their losses coming to top 10 programs (No. 1 Florida, No. 7 Wake Forest, No. 10 UCLA). Their three wins include victories over two ranked opponents (San Diego and Virginia).
With the new ranking, UCF leapfrogged their previous best mark of No. 28 in the Oracle/ITA poll. They've achieved that ranking three times in the past, most recently on April 16 of last season.
Gabriel Decamps leads the charge as the No. 7 singles player in the country, the highest ranking of his career. Decamps has put together quite the resume so far this season, piecing together three wins over ranked opponents. After falling in his first two singles matches, Decamps came out on fire for ITA Kickoff Weekend. He wiped out San Diego's No. 30 Gui Osorio by a count of 6-0, 6-0 before beating No. 7 Keegan Smith of UCLA the next day in three sets. This past weekend, Decamps defeated Wake Forest's No. 43 Bar Botzer in straight sets and Virginia's Carl Soderlund in a three-set match. Decamps was tabbed as the No. 22 singles player coming out of the tournament season. His previous career best was No. 17.
Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi is the second highest ranked singles player for the Knights as he checks in at No. 72 in this week's rankings. He is out to a 3-3 start so far this season with a win over a ranked opponent in the team's most recent contest. He has played exclusively at the No. 2 spot for the Knights, which is a huge step up from last season where he spent most of his time at the fourth and fifth spots in the lineup. Grassi Mazzuchi entered the dual match season as the No. 29 singles player in the country after posting a 9-5 record in tournament play.
Bogdan Pavel rounds out the ranked Knights in singles play, pegged at No. 105. The mark is three spots higher than he was entering the dual match season. Pavel has posted a record of 3-3 so far in singles play, with the majority of them coming at the No. 4 spot in the lineup. He posted a 7-6 record during tournament play, placing him as the No. 108 singles player coming out of tournament play.
Not only is Decamps the No. 7 singles player in the nation, but he is also a part of the No. 7 doubles tandem as he and Grassi Mazzuchi pair up to make one of the best combos in college tennis. The two have posted a 4-1 record at the second doubles position in the lineup, defeating one ranked opponent thus far. The pair went on a 7-3 run through tournament play during the fall, marking them as the No. 6 duo in the country.
UP NEXT
The Knights will visit Illinois on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET for their final match before a 19-day break from the schedule. Illinois received votes in Wednesday's release of the poll but was pegged as the No. 19 team prior to that.
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