Men's Tennis Dominates Louisiana to Sweep Season-Opening DoubleheaderMen's Tennis Dominates Louisiana to Sweep Season-Opening Doubleheader

Men's Tennis Dominates Louisiana to Sweep Season-Opening Doubleheader

by Alex Clough
Match One Box Score (PDF) Opens in a new window Match Two Box Score (PDF) Opens in a new window

ORLANDO - With expectations to follow up an impressive debut season in the Big 12, the UCF men’s tennis team handled business in a pair of season-opening doubleheader wins against Louisiana on Saturday afternoon at the USTA National Campus.

Our first match was really good, especially in doubles. I got to see Nico [Oliveira] in action as a true freshman, along with Walid [Ahouda] who got his first dual-match experience. It was great to give some of those guys chances to see what they look like. We have some things to work on but there were some positives for sure.

Head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess

Match One (6-1 Final)

A relative weak spot for the Knights in 2024 came in doubles play as. Though they were consistently able to bounce back in singles, it was often from a losing position. With a new lineup commencing action with the Ragin Cajuns, there was plenty of promise in an overall dominating display for what’s to come in 2025.

Junior Emilio Sanchez, who found form during the final weeks of the squad’s conference and NCAA run last year, was brilliant alongside Santiago Giamichelle on court three, besting Louisiana convincingly, 6-2.

Making his dual-match debut in Black and Gold, Morocco native Walid Ahouda was paired with Liam Branger, who tallied a winning record across doubles matches a season ago. The tandem immediately found chemistry, breaking their opposition early en route to a 6-3 victory on court one to clinch the point.

Singles saw more of the same with early breaks and consistent play down each court. Yassine Dlimi, back on court one after going 9-6 in 2024, wasted no time disposing of Louisiana’s Vasil Dimitrov, 6-1, 6-1. The win sparked a special outing from freshman Nicolas Oliveira, who secured his first collegiate dual-match win straight sets against Darius Balan, 6-2, 6-2.

In the blink of an eye, the Knights were on the verge of clinching a season-opening win, which would come shortly after as Mehdi Benchakroun bested Oriol Fillat Gimenez, 6-2, 6-1, in his first-career appearance on court two. Opting to play out, the Black and Gold added two more wins, highlighted by a Giamichelle victory on court four, 6-2, 6-4, and a gritty comeback triumph from Ahouda on court five, 3-6, 7-6(4), 1-0(10-7). Branger would fall in three sets to Samuel Kyjaci on court three.

Singles Results

  1. Yassine Dlimi (UCF) def. Vasil Dimitrov (UL) 6-1, 6-1 
  2. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Oriol Fillat Gimenez (UL) 6-2, 6-1 
  3. Samuel Kyjaci (UL) def. Liam Branger (UCF) 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8) 
  4. Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) def. Calin Postea (UL) 6-2, 6-4 
  5. Walid Ahouda (UCF) def. Mason Landreth (UL) 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-7) 
  6. Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) def. Darius Balan (UL) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles Results

  1. Walid Ahouda/Liam Branger (UCF) def. Samuel Kyjaci/Leonard Tramolay (UL) 6-3 
  2. Yassine Dlimi/Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) vs. Oriol Fillat Gimenez/William Jade (UL) 3-4, uf
  3. Emilio Sanchez/Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) def. Darius Balan/Calin Postea (UL) 6-2

Match Two (5-2 Final)

While Giamichelle and Sanchez went two for two on the day with yet another impressive victory on court three, 6-1, the Knights weren't able to prevail in doubles play. Ahouda and Branger were able to hang in on court one before Louisiana eventually clinched the early lead, as Benchakroun and Dlimi also fell on two.

However, similar ways to a season ago, it didn't take long for the Knights to bounce back, as Benchakroun led the charge on court three with a dominating sweep of Louisiana's Calin Postea, 6-0, 6-0. The leveler shifted the momentum back in UCF's favor before Giamichelle solidified the advantage with his second win of the day on court four, 6-2, 6-2. 

Joining the junior tandem in a season-opening sweep was the redshirt freshman Ahouda, dispatching Leonard Tramolay, 6-4, 6-3, after breaking his serve with amazing strength. The bout would be clinched by Branger on court two, tallying his first win of 2025 against Samuel Kyjaci, 6-4, 6-4.

Sanchez fell on court six in his first singles match of the season before Dlimi put the icing on the cake with a super tiebreak triumph on court one against Dimitrov, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3).

Singles Results

  1. Yassine Dlimi (UCF) def. Vasil Dimitrov (UL) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3)
  2. Liam Branger (UCF) def. Samuel Kyjaci (UL) 6-4, 6-4 
  3. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Calin Postea (UL) 6-0, 6-0 
  4. 4. Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) def. Mason Landreth (UL) 6-2, 6-2
  5. 5. Walid Ahouda (UCF) def. Leonard Tramolay (UL) 6-4, 6-3
  6. 6. William Jade (UL) def. Emilio Sanchez (UCF) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5

Doubles Results

  1. Samuel Kyjaci/Leonard Tramolay (UL) def. Walid Ahouda/Liam Branger (UCF) 6-4
  2. Oriol Fillat Gimenez/William Jade (UL) def. Mehdi Benchakroun/Yassine Dlimi (UCF) 6-3 
  3. Santiago Giamichelle/Emilio Sanchez (UCF) def. Vasil Dimitrov/Mason Landreth (UL) 6-1

Up Next

UCF will be back in action Wednesday night as it welcomes former conference for Wichita State to the USTA National Campus for a 6 p.m. first serve.