ORLANDO, Fla. – It was a crucial performance for the UCF men's tennis team as they defeated No. 39 Tulane, 4-0. The front three courts were in the Knights hands from the beginning as they built on the doubles point to pick up their seventh win of the season.
"We played particularly well in singles, especially on courts one, two, and three," said head coach John Roddick on the victory. "To go out there and win three matches that easily was key, especially after winning the doubles point."
It's always good to get the match's first point and that's exactly what the Knights did, taking both courts two and three to grab the upper hand. Liam Branger and Paul Colin, who won the first collegiate doubles match of his career, took court three, 6-3. Yassine Dlimi and Toto Llanes then wrapped things up on two as they defeated Benji Jacobson and Billy Suarez, 7-5. No. 26 Bogdan Pavel and Lleyton Cronje were up, 6-5 before their match went unfinished on one.
In singles, the Black and Gold took care of business swiftly on courts one through three. The trio of Pavel, Cronje, and Dlimi each one in straight sets to clinch the crucial conference win. Pavel gained a big, ranked win as he defeated No. 122 Fynn Kuenkler, 6-1, 6-4. Ranked 98 himself, the Romanian has now won three of four as he looks to bump up the rankings ahead of the conference tournament.
Cronje won his fifth consecutive match on court two as he bested Luka Petrovic, 6-1, 6-4. The seniors playing his best tennis on the home stretch, building on an already impressive season. On court three, Dlimi battled for a big set one win, 6-3, before making it look easy in the second, taking the match, 6-2. The freshman secured his fourth win from five as it seems the front three for the Knights are finding their stride at the right time.
No. 155 Branger erased a tough first set, 4-6, to bounce back in the second before the match went unfinished at 4-2. Benchakroun and Llanes were both trailing in their matches on courts five and six.
The Knights now set their sights on South Florida as they'll make the trip to Tampa Friday for an afternoon matchup at 2 pm.