ORLANDO – In his third appearance dawning Black and Gold, freshman Nicolas Oliveira showed the grit and composure of an experienced veteran, dominating the ‘blue draw’ at the 2024 Bedford Cup in Gainesville, Fla., to claim the singles title.
Over three days, the Brazilian native didn’t drop a set in five matches, culminating in a 7-5, 6-3 finals triumph over Florida Atlantic’s Segundo Goity Zapico. Oliviera highlighted a promising weekend for head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess and his squad, garnering multiple impressive results against Sunshine State foes.
Five Knights made the short trip north to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Center, competing across two singles draws and an expanded doubles slate. Luca Hotze built on a strong start to his fall slate, advancing to the ‘blue draw’ quarterfinals alongside Oliveira.
After a difficult first-round result in the ‘orange draw,’ freshman Adriano Dzhenev rattled off two impressive results in the consolation round to advance to the finals. Paired with Oliveira, the tandem continued to show chemistry en route to a semifinal bid following three great performances in the earlier rounds.
Up Next
The Knights will look to punch multiple tickets to the NCAA Individual Championships at the last of three qualification opportunities, returning to Tallahassee for the ITA South Sectional Championships from November 7-10.
Full Results
Singles
Main Draw (Orange)
- R1: Xavier Sarda Marti (STE) def. Simeon Terziev (UCF): 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
- R1: Thomas Pavlekovich-Smith (USF) def. Adriano Dzhenev (UCF): 7-6(4), 6-0
Main Draw (Blue)
- R1: Luca Hotze (UCF) def. Tsz Him Chan (USF): 6-1, 6-4
- R1: Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) def. Benjamin Scott (UNF): 6-2, 6-3
- R2: Luca Hotze (UCF) def. Kartik Mandla (STE): 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
- R2: Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) def. Elias Sumann (FSU): 6-0, 6-2
- R2: Guglielmo Verdese (USF) def. Emilio Sanchez (UCF): 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
- R3: Ben Hudson (USF) def. Luca Hotze (UCF): 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)
- R3: Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) def. Guglielmo Verdese (USF): 6-0, 6-2
- R4: Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) def. Ben Hudson (USF): 6-2, 7-5
- R5: Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) def. Segundo Goity Zapico (FAU): 7-5, 6-3
Main Draw (Orange Consolation)
- Adriano Dzhenev (UCF) def. Simeon Terziev (UCF): 6-2, 6-3
- Adriano Dzhenev (UCF) def. Bruno Vietri (UNF): 1-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-1)
Main Draw (Blue Consolation)
- R2: Maximo Oberto (Miami) def. Emilio Sanchez (UCF): 0-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6)
Doubles
Main Draw
- R1: Nicolas Oliveira/Adriano Dzhenev (UCF) def. Lorenzo Leti Messina/Andreas Scott (UNF): 6-4
- R2: Nicolas Oliveira/Adriano Dzhenev (UCF) def. Thomas Pavlekovich-Smith/Ben Hudson (USF): 6-4
- R2: Ettore Danesi/Guglielmo Verdese (USF) def. Luca Hotze/Simeon Terziev (UCF): 6-3
- R3: Nicolas Oliveira/Adriano Dzhenev (UCF) def. Antonio Prat/Mehdi Sadaoui (Miami): 8-6
- R4: Stepan Mruzek/Agustin Cuellar (USF) def. Nicolas Oliveira/Adriano Dzhenev (UCF): 8-6
Consolation
- R2: Luca Hotze/Simeon Terziev (UCF) def. Harry Michalowski/Christopher Smith (FGCU): 6-2
- R3: Luca Hotze/Simeon Terziev (UCF) def. Guglielmo Stefanacci/Pablo Paternostro (FGCU): 6-4