ORLANDO – An eventful fall season for the UCF men’s tennis team, its first under head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess, has propelled three Knights into the final fall Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. Mehdi Benchakroun makes his debut among the top 125 singles players in the nation, entering at No. 95. In doubles, Lleyton Cronje and his new partner, Santiago Giamichelle, were tabbed the 20th-best tandem in the country.
Following a second-round appearance in the NCAA Doubles Championships and the final match together of a season leading the Knights on court one, Bogdan Pavel graduated, leaving Cronje as the resident senior and leader of the squad. Along with Giamichelle, a transfer from UT-Arlington, Cronje instantly connected with the Argentinian ahead of the ITA Southeast Regionals.
The pair was among eight Knights who traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, for the event. With 32 doubles teams vying for a place at the ITA Fall Championships in San Diego, Cronje and Giamichelle dominated the field, not dropping a single set en route to the swift, 6-2, 6-0, triumph over host Georgia Tech’s Gabriele Brancatelli and Richard Biagiotti.
During the five-match win streak, the tandem topped the ninth-ranked duo from South Florida, Erik Grevelious and Alvin Tudorica, 6-4, 6-3. With qualification to the ITA Fall Championships secured, Cronje and Giamichelle advanced to the second round of the tournament after defeating Andras Necz and Maximillian Relic of Montana State/Bozeman, 6-3, 7-5.
Another standout performer from the southeast regionals was Benchakroun, playing his second fall season with UCF. Strong outings at the Bedford Cup and Fall Sizzler, both hosted by UCF at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Benchakroun left his mark at one of the premier ITA events of the season.
After wins over two ACC opponents, including Georgia Tech’s Rohan Sachdev and Florida State’s Loris Pourroy, Benchakroun faced the tournament's two-seed and 57th-ranked player in the nation, Florida’s Aidan Kim, in the round of 16. The sophomore made quick work of one of the Gators’ top players, taking the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
With the dual-match season on the horizon, a new set of rankings will release on Jan. 3, 2024, which will serve as the preseason edition ahead of the Knights’ first season in the Big 12.