Men's Tennis Prepped for ITA Southeast Regionals

ORLANDO – Originally set to host the second of three premier Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) tournaments at the USTA National Campus, the Knights will adapt and instead make the short trip north to Athens, Georgia for the 2024 Southeast Regional Championships, hosted at the historic Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

The decision came as Hurricane Milton was hours away from the Florida coast, with UCF Athletics deciding to move the tournament back to Saturday, October 12, before eventually announcing the regionals would be moved to Athens.

First Serve

Tournament: ITA Southeast Regional Championships

Location: Athens, Georgia

Venue: Dan Magill Tennis Complex

Date: Wednesday, October 16 – Sunday, October 20

Competing: Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida State University, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech University, Kennesaw State University, Mercer University, Stetson University, the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida, the University of Miami, the University of North Florida and the University of South Florida

While a trio of Knights competed at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last September, the majority of the 2024-25 squad debuted at the UCF Invite from October 4-5 at the USTA National Campus.

Simeon Terziev, Nicolas Oliveira and Adriano Dzhenev each tallied their first wins at the collegiate level, going a combined 3-3 in singles play. At the same time, Terziev secured a perfect weekend in doubles with Luca Hotze, taking a pair of matches.

Mehdi Benchakroun and Santiago Giamichelle, who commenced their fall with a strong performance in Tulsa, each going 3-1 in singles, continued their good form with a combined four wins over two days of action. The latter secured his 40th career singles win with UCF, leading all Knights since his arrival in the fall of 2022.

Giamichelle will begin play as the reigning doubles champion as the junior claimed the top spot with former Knight, Lleyton Cronje, at the 2023 edition in Atlanta. The Argentina native leads the squad in doubles victories (18) since his transfer from UT Arlington ahead of the 2024 season.

You can follow along during the action-packed week on UCFKnights.com with live updates on the UCF men’s tennis page.