ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF men's tennis team saw its season come to a close in a 3-4 defeat in the American Athletic Conference semifinals against Tulane. It was a contested matchup that came down to the wire, though the Green Wave was able to pull out the victory on court three.
"The guys battled really hard and I've got to give them credit for that," said head coach John Roddick following the loss. "In the end, not much went our way."
The Knights saw strong performances from seniors Bogdan Pavel and Lleyton Cronje on courts one and two. Pavel won his match with Tulane's Luka Petrovic, 7-6(7-3), 6-3. Seconds following the conclusion of the Romanian's match, Cronje finished off Fynn Kuenkler in a similar fashion, 7-6(7-3), 6-3.
For a freshman, Mehdi Benchakroun has shown incredible composure in his first two career postseason matches. Today, the Moroccan got it done with yet another dominant display on court five against Tulsa's Alex Bancila, 6-0, 6-3.
The Knights couldn't get on the front foot in doubles today, breaking their three-match streak. The Green Wave took court two, 6-3, before Pavel and Cronje fell in a close tiebreak, 7-6(7-4).