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Men's Tennis Concludes Regular Season at No. 2 TCU

by Alex Clough

ORLANDO – Four months ago, the UCF men’s tennis team embarked on its first regular-season matches under first-year head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess, a pair of wins against UNC Wilmington and Coastal Carolina which jumpstarted a historic campaign.

Saturday afternoon, the Knights (18-3, 4-2) will conclude their inaugural regular season in the Big 12 following a monumental commencement to a new era for the program. Waiting for the Knights in Fort Worth, Texas, is No. 2 TCU, who have yet to depart the top five this season.

The Horned Frogs (19-3, 4-2) and Knights have two meetings to precede their first conference bout after a pair of matches in 2016-17. Both have similar records in 2024, with only an extra TCU win differentiating the two squads, who sit in a tie for third place in the Big 12.

With just one match remaining, the field is starting to fall into shape ahead of the Conference Championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma, next weekend. A win on Saturday would secure the Knights the third seed, while a defeat would drop them just one spot to fourth. In the preseason poll, UCF was picked to finish tied for sixth, which has already proven to be an underestimation for Bruce-Burgess and his group.

UCF in the Polls

Following a pair of victories over Texas Tech and BYU to conclude the Black and Gold’s home slate, the Knights slotted in at 31st in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings. Outside of three Big 12 squads placed in the top 10, UCF leads the pack outside of the top-25.

Lleyton Cronje checked back in the singles rankings following a dominating triumph over Texas Tech’s No. 43 Olle Wallin, 6-4, 6-1, on court one. In the absence of Yassine Dlimi, the senior split his first two contests on court one and has continued to battle in doubles leading the Knights’ lineup.

Knights Notables

  • UCF has attained 18 wins for the 10th time in program history and the third time this century. Bruce-Burgess’ win-tally through 21 matches ranks second for any first-year head coach in program history.
  • Mehdi Benchakroun leads the Knights with 14 wins in singles, which is already five more than his impressive nine-win tally during his freshman season in 2023.
  • The Knights’ dominance on the back three has continued to push to victories, as they hold a 44-8 record on courts four through six.
  • Three Knights have already attained double-digit victories in 2024 as Cronje and Santiago Giamichelle join Benchakroun with 11 each.
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The Opponent

The Horned Frogs have been dominant throughout the 2024 campaign. After nine straight wins to open the season, TCU fell to No. 1 Ohio State in the ITA Indoor National Championships final. Since then, it’s fallen in a pair of Big 12 bouts to No. 4 Texas and No. 9 Oklahoma, though still sits in a good position ahead of the conference championships.

Led by tenured head coach David Roditi, who has hailed over the program since 2020 and currently attains 269 career wins, the Horned Frogs display a pair of top-10 players at the top of their singles lineup.

No. 8 Jack Pennington leads the way and has a strong record on both courts one (7-2) and two (6-2). The sophomore is followed by No. 9 Jake Fearnley and three others in the top 125 (No. 57 Lui Maxted, No. 58 Pedro Vives, and No. 71 Sebastian Gorzny.

In doubles, Gorzny and Vives lead the way, ranked fourth in the latest ITA release, followed by No. 77 Duncan Chan and Maxted.