ORLANDO – A familiar opponent will make the trip east on I-4 to open the UCF men’s tennis team’s three-match homestand. The Knights and South Florida will meet for the first time in non-conference play since 2013 Friday night at the USTA National Campus, beginning a new chapter between the programs. First serve is set for 6 p.m. as the Knights will be honoring multiple alumni before the match.
UCF (8-1) bounced back last Sunday in its second consecutive triumph over the Blazers in Birmingham, 5-2, ahead of the much anticipated matchup with the Bulls (5-6). The squad picked up its third doubles point of the season en route to another strong display in singles. Overall, a quartet of Knights took care of business in straight sets, including Mehdi Benchakroun who clinched the bout on court six with a 6-2, 6-3, win over Juan Pablo Valdez.
Currently 5-0 in front of the Knights faithful, UCF is embarking on its final stretch of non-conference action before starting its inaugural slate in the Big 12 at Texas on March 22. In the latest ITA team rankings, the Knights checked in at No. 44 as they continue to be one of six conference teams to rank among the top 50 in the nation.
Four were placed in the top 25, including No. 2 TCU who UCF will conclude its regular season against in Fort Worth in April. The Longhorns slotted in at No. 10, followed by Baylor, who secured its highest ranking of the season at No. 14 and was capped off with Oklahoma State at No. 24.
KNIGHT NOTABLES
- Yassine Dlimi is riding a six-match unbeaten streak since picking up his first of the season against Georgia Southern on Jan. 21. In 2023, Dlimi went on a 10-match unbeaten stretch including a three-match and five-match win streak in between.
- When winning the first set, the Moroccan is 5-0, as just two of his bouts this season have gone the distance.
- Three Knights got back in the win column following UCF’s lone loss of the season at Florida. For the fifth match this season, each win came in straight sets against the Blazers.
- Giamichelle, who is currently off to his best start to a collegiate season at 7-1, is one of two Knights, alongside Paul Colin, who has yet to play a third set. The tandem is a combined 11-1 on courts four through six.
THE OPPONENT
Friday’s matchup between the Bulls and Knights will mark the 50th in more than half-century of history. The programs met for the first time in 1977 and since have tested each other for nearly a decade in the American Athletic Conference.
In 2023, the Knights did the double over South Florida, defeating them in Tampa, 4-3, before doing the same in the quarterfinals of the AAC Championship to conclude another chapter of this historical matchup. Both teams retain similar rosters to last year’s contests, with the major difference coming from head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess, who will face his former school for the first time leading a program, as he served as an assistant with USF in the fall of 2019.
Ranked 66th in the latest ITA team rankings, South Florida is led by Alvin Tudorica who has climbed to No. 36 in the nation and holds a 9-2 record on court one throughout the first half of the season. The familiar faces of Eric Grevelius (7-2) and Oliveira Bruno (4-4) remain pillars of the Bulls’ play in singles.
Grevelius and Tudorica sit seven places behind Giamichelle and Cronje in the doubles rankings at No. 40 and hold a 6-3 record thus far. Dlimi and Tudorica faced off on court three in Tampa last season, with the Moroccan coming out on top, 6-4, 6-2, as the two are potentially set for a rematch on court one.
The Bulls enter the contest on a three-match losing streak following wins over two common opponents, Georgia Southern, 4-3, and FGCU, 6-1. The stretch included three 4-3 defeats to Memphis, Santa Clara and Troy.