MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The UCF men's tennis team (6-11) suffered its first conference loss of the 2023 campaign on Sunday afternoon to No. 35 Memphis. Failing to secure the doubles point, the Knights fell 4-1 during the penultimate road trip of the regular season.
The No. 30 ranked tandem of Bogdan Pavel and Lleyton Cronje picked up its second-straight doubles win on court one, taking down the Memphis duo 6-4. The remaining courts went the Tigers' way, with the Knights falling 6-4 on courts two and three to give the Tigers the doubles point.
The singles courts struggled at first, as the Knights dropped the first set on all courts except three and six. Cronje was able to pick up some momentum on court two, forcing a third set. He dominated over David Stevenson in the third, winning with a zero, to take the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
This proved to be the only singles court that UCF would pick up. Memphis won in straight sets on court five (6-2, 6-1). The remaining courts all went to three sets, with the first two sets going to 7-6 tiebreakers on both court one and four. The Knights were unable to continue on the momentum created by the win from Cronje, dropping the matches at positions four and six, allowing Memphis to clinch the match victory.
#35 Memphis 4, UCF 1
Singles competition
1. #75 Pablo Alemany (MEM) vs. #105 Bogdan Pavel (UCF) 7-6 (12-10), 6-7 (3-7), 4-5, unfinished 2. Lleyton Cronje (UCF) def. David Stevenson (MEM) 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
3. Oscar Cutting (MEM) vs. Yassine Dlimi (UCF) 3-6, 7-5, 6-6, unfinished
4. Conor Gannon (MEM) def. #84 Liam Branger (UCF) 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (6-8), 6-4
5. Jeremy Taylor (MEM) def. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) 6-2, 6-1
6. Harry Rock (MEM) def. Francisco Llanes (UCF) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. Bogdan Pavel/Lleyton Cronje (UCF) def. David Stevenson/Jeremy Taylor (MEM) 6-4
2. Harry Rock/Conor Gannon (MEM) def. Francisco Llanes/Yassine Dlimi (UCF) 6-4
3. Pablo Alemany/Oscar Cutting (MEM) def. Liam Branger/Paul Colin (UCF) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,2,6,4)
UP NEXT
The Knights have a busy week on deck, starting off at home on Wednesday, April 5, where they will host conference opponent Tulane with a 5 p.m. start time. The squad will then hit the road on Friday for its road trip finale, heading to South Florida. The War on I-4 match will have a first serve time of 2 p.m.