No. 11 Men's Tennis Concludes Weekend in Style, Defeating No. 71 Stetson 6-1No. 11 Men's Tennis Concludes Weekend in Style, Defeating No. 71 Stetson 6-1

No. 11 Men's Tennis Concludes Weekend in Style, Defeating No. 71 Stetson 6-1

by Alex Clough

ORLANDO - On a beautiful Sunday night at the USTA National Campus, the 11th-ranked UCF men’s tennis team matched the sights, authoring a dominating performance against No. 71 Stetson, 6-1.

The win continues the Knights' (12-3) undefeated play at home, having won each of their seven contests in front of the home faithful. A third-ranked win of the season highlighted a complete outing in both doubles and singles.

There was no doubt for the squad in the match’s early stages, with the Black and Gold securing early leads on each court in doubles and never looking back. Mehdi Benchakroun and Santiago Giamichelle tallied their eighth win of the season in yet another dominating performance on court three, 6-2.

While Liam Branger and Paul Colin opened up a 5-3 lead on court one, it would be Yassine Dlimi and Emilio Sanchez who were first to the punch, besting Stetson on two to claim the early lead, 6-4.

In singles, UCF jumped out to set leads on five courts, as Colin’s opening round came down to a tiebreak which the France native capitalized on, 7-2.

Freshman Nicolas Oliveira slotted back into the lineup on six where he handled business against Marc Saura in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. The front three courts would fall in the span of five minutes, with Dlimi bouncing back into the win column with a balanced display against Eder Blanco on one, 6-0, 7-5.

Branger would provide the clinch, his fifth of the season, on court three against the Hatters’ Ervin Harris Eminefendic, 6-1, 6-4. After slotting up to court two against UAB, Benchakroun secured his first win on the court with a great performance against Stetson’s Christian Kuehne, 6-3, 6-2.

While the Hatters responded with their lone point of the match on court five, it would UCF with the final win on four as Colin prevailed in a third set super-tiebreak, 7-6(2), 3-6, 10-8.

UP NEXT

The Knights will conclude non-conference play with an action-packed weekend to commence March, hosting a doubleheader against UNC-Wilmington and Coastal Carolina on Friday, March 7, before welcoming in 

Singles Results

  1. #100 Yassine Dlimi (UCF) def. Eder Blanco (STE) 6-0, 7-5
  2. #106 Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Christian Kuehne (STE) 6-3, 6-2
  3. Liam Branger (UCF) def. Ervin Harris Eminefendic (STE) 6-1, 6-4
  4. Paul Colin (UCF) def. Xavier Sarda Marti (STE) 7-6(2), 3-6, 1-0(10-8)
  5. Sami Ozzor (STE) def. Emilio Sanchez (UCF) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
  6. Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) def. Marc Saura (STE) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles Results

  1. Liam Branger/Paul Colin (UCF) vs. Marc Saura/Lucas Olivier (STE) 5-3, unfinished
  2. Yassine Dlimi/Emilio Sanchez (UCF) def. Eder Blanco/Christian Kuehne (STE) 6-4
  3. Mehdi Benchakroun/Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) def. Kartic Mandla/Juan Jose Rodriguez (STE) 6-2