ORLANDO - The UCF men's tennis team (2-6) came out victorious over No. 73 North Florida (3-2) on Friday afternoon at the USTA National Campus, dominating 5-2, thanks to an outstanding singles performances from all four freshmen.
Yassine Dlimi and Liam Branger fell short in their match on court two, dropping 6-2 but No. 48 Bogdan Pavel and Lleyton Cronje quickly answered with a decisive 6-3 victory on court one to even the doubles score at one point a piece. It all came down to Mehdi Benchakroun and Francisco Llanes on court three, who took their match 6-3 as well. The Knights claimed the doubles point for the second time this season to give them a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
In singles play, the Black and Gold won four of the six first sets across the board. The first victory of singles play came on court four, where Benchakroun dominated over Andreas Scott in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, to push the Knights to a two point advantage over the Ospreys. Over on court three, Dlimi took down Matt Carroll in straight sets as well, 6-4, 6-3, giving the Knights a 3-0 lead. Moments later, Cronje and Pavel fell short on their respective courts to put the Ospreys within striking distance heading into the final two courts.
In order to win, either Branger or Llanes had to clinch victory. Llanes was putting up quite the fight in the tiebreaker of the second set. It went back and forth for over 10 minutes, before he got the upperhand over PJ Kotan, taking the match 6-2, 7-6 (12) and clinching the final point needed for the Knights to take the match. Branger also got the best of his matchup against Breno Marques, even after falling in the first set 0-6. Branger battled back and took the next two sets on court five 6-2, 7-5.
UP NEXT - The Knights will return to the USTA National Campus Saturday, Feb. 25 to face off against #16 Florida State and look to continue their home win streak.
UCF 5, #73 UNF 2
Doubles competition
- #48 Bogdan Pavel/Lleyton Cronje (UCF) def. Jonas Hartenstein/Rodrigo Crespo(UNF) 6-3
- Matt Carroll/PJ Kotan (UNF) def. Yassine Dlini/Liam Branger (UCF) 6-2
- Mehdi Benchakroun/Francisco Llanes (UCF) def. Andreas Scott/Breno Marques (UNF) 6-3
Singles competition
- Jonas Hartenstein (UNF) def. Bogdan Pavel (UCF) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
- Rodrigo Crespo (UNF) def. Lleyton Cronje (UCF) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
- Yassine Dlimi (UCF) def. Matt Carroll (UNF) 6-4, 6-3
- Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Andreas Scott (UNF) 6-1, 6-2
- Liam Branger (UCF) def. Breno Marques (UNF) 0-6, 6-2, 7-5
- Francisco Llanes (UCF) def. PJ Kotan (UNF) 6-2, 7-6 (14-12)
Order of Finish
Doubles (2,1,3) Singles (4,3,2,1,6,5)
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