SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The character of a team is rooted in how they respond to adversity. Just days after falling to BYU, the No. 11 UCF men’s tennis rebounded in a gritty display, overcoming No. 52 Utah, 4-1.
The Knights (15-6, 1-2) fell into an early hole after the Utes (13-6, 2-3) claimed the doubles point. However, sturdy performances in singles cleared the path for four consecutive points to take the duel and move back to .500 in Big 12 play.
While Utah took court two to begin doubles, 6-3, it was a pair of contested matchups on one and three, each venturing past the 10-game mark. Leading the Knights’ efforts, Liam Branger and Paul Colin took the front court from 52nd-ranked Dylan Applegate and Max Relic, 7-5.
Initially down 5-1 to Utah’s Nicolas Calixto and Emmett Potter, Mehdi Benchakroun and Santiago Giamichelle battled back to push the contest into a tiebreak, eventually falling as the Utes took the early advantage.
UCF responded resoundingly with four first sets, headlined by Benchakroun’s first-set tiebreak triumph. The momentum fully shifted in the Knights’ corner after 90th-ranked Yassine Dlimi tallied a dominating straight-set sweep over Utah’s Reid Jarvis, 6-3, 6-4.
Minutes later, freshman Nicolas Oliveira secured UCF the lead with his second-consecutive win, defeating Charles Frey, 6-2, 6-4. Giamichelle followed suit, as the newly minted member of the century club, secured another victory on court four, 6-4, 6-2.
While Colin’s court-three bout was deep in the third set, along with Emilio Sanchez’s match on six, 69th-ranked Benchakroun held it down on court two with a bounce-back triumph over Dante Teramo, 7-6(3), 6-3.
UP NEXT
The Knights will have a weekend off before returning home for ranked-bout with No. 17 Baylor on Thursday, April 3, before welcoming No. 32 Arizona State on Sunday, April 6.