GAINESVILLE, Florida - The UCF men’s tennis team wrapped up its final fall tournament of the year at the Gator Invite last weekend, hosted at the University of Florida. With players representing schools such as Clemson, Miami, and Florida, the squad saw strong performances from a variety of athletes ahead of the Knights inaugural season as a member of the Big 12 next spring.
Lleyton Cronje shinned ahead of his appearance at the ITA National Fall Championships in San Diego, Calif., going 3-0 in singles while also defeating Tanapatt Nirundorn and Aidan Kim from Florida alongside his ITA southeast regional champion counterpart Santiago Giamichelle, 6-4.
Throughout the weekend, the South African native dropped just one set in singles, besting opponents from all three programs. A straight-set triumph over Noa Vukadin of Clemson, 6-3, 7-6, preceded a three-set thriller over Miami’s Antonio Prat, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. The fifth year finished the tournament with 6-4, 6-1, win over Florida’s Aidan Kim.
Another standout was sophomore Toto Llanes, who has continued to impress ahead of his second dual-match campaign in Orlando. The Uruguayan bested Clemson’s Marko Mesarovic of Clemson on Friday, 6-2, 6-4. The next afternoon, Llanes defeated Adrien Burdet of Miami, 7-6, 7-6. In doubles alongside Liam Branger, the tandem defeated pairings from Clemson, 6-3, and Miami, 7-6.
The aforementioned Giamichelle, wrapping up his first season of fall tennis as a Knight, secured two singles victories of his own. A triumph over Clemson’s Spencer Whitaker, 6-3, 6-4, on Friday was followed by another straight-set win as the Argentinian topped Miami’s Vladislav Melnic, 6-4, 6-3.
For the Knights, Cronje and Giamichelle will look to bring home more hardware in San Diego next weekend to conclude a successful fall campaign in head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess’ first season at the realm with UCF.