ORLANDO, Fla. – Bogdan Pavel and Trey Hilderbrand of the UCF men's tennis team headline the ITA Preseason Rankings as they are tabbed as the third best in the nation heading into the 2021 fall season while three Knights are also ranked in singles play.
Pavel and Hilderbrand tie UCF's best ranking for a doubles team in program history as the pair was also ranked third in 2019 and the duo of Korey Lovett and Eero Vasa were ranked third in 2018.
Last season, the duo was named as ITA Doubles All-Americans, becoming only the sixth and seventh to do so in program history. They were also named to the AAC Doubles All-Conference team. The pair made it to the Sweet Sixteen at the NCAA Doubles Championships after beating No. 23 Alabama in the round of 32. They were ranked as high as No. 5 and ended the season at No. 10. The duo went 11-3 on the season and 7-3 against nationally ranked doubles teams.
UCF will begin the 2021 fall season with three ranked singles players. Leading the way is Lleyton Cronje who comes in at No. 70 in the nation while Kento Yamada check in at No. 88 and Alan Rubio ranks No. 108.
Cronje will begin his first season as a Knight after transferring from VCU and reaches his highest singles ranking in his career at No. 70. While playing for the Rams, Cronje went to the NCAA Singles Tournament, went 12-4 in singles, named the Atlantic 10 Performer of the Year and earned All-Atlantic 10 First Team honors.
Yamada went 18-1 in singles last season and went undefeated in the postseason. He went 2-0 in doubles and beat Wichita's No. 33 player in singles in the semifinals of the AAC tournament. Yamada then took down Mississippi State's No. 121 player in straight sets in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and went 2-0 in doubles at the NCAA Tournament, including a huge victory over No. 16 Mississippi State's doubles team.
Rubio flirted with the rankings the past few years and reached his highest singles ranking of No. 79 in November 2018. Last season, he compiled an overall record of 13-8 in singles, including three ranked wins. Rubio paired up with Yamada to go 2-0 in doubles at the NCAA Tournament where the duo topped No. 16 Mississippi State's double team.
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