No. 18 Men's Tennis Collects Another 4-3 Victory at Oklahoma StateNo. 18 Men's Tennis Collects Another 4-3 Victory at Oklahoma State
Edward Finan / UCF Athletics

No. 18 Men's Tennis Collects Another 4-3 Victory at Oklahoma State

by Alex Clough
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STILLWATER, Oklahoma - Three matches and over 10 hours of play since the beginning of 2024 preceded the No. 18 UCF men’s tennis team’s contest with Oklahoma State this afternoon. 

Down 3-1, the Knights charged back in yet another episode in a series of 4-3 clinches to claim the victory over the Cowboys, with junior Emilio Sanchez breaking serve to tally the squad’s fourth Big 12 win of the season.

Boasting a 12-6 record in doubles points during the non-conference slate, the Knights have had different fortunes during Big 12 play, dropping their fifth point in eight matches to make for a difficult road in singles.

While each court was within a game following the opening half of the competition, the Cowboys paired 6-3 wins on courts one and three to grab the early advantage. Yassine Dlimi and Emilio Sanchez were handed their seventh-consecutive defeat, falling on court one minute after Paul Colin and Nicolas Oliveira dropped their court-three bout.

An empathic response was needed, and that’s just what the Black and Gold authored, taking four first sets to open singles play, highlighted by Emilio Sanchez prevailing in a tiebreaker 7-3.

Before UCF could get on the board, the Cowboys doubled their lead as Oliveira was bested by Nicolas Kobelt on five, 6-1, 6-3. It wouldn’t take long for the Knights to counter, with 81st-ranked Mehdi Benchakroun being the first on the scene with a swift straight-set triumph over Derek Pham on court two, 6-0, 6-1.

The win marks the third for the Moroccan holding opponents to at least one game won, as the two-time Big 12 player of the week moves to 4-2 in Big 12 play. 

In a similar series of events, Oklahoma State took court one via 84-ranked Isaac Becroft’s win over 77th-ranked Dlimi in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, but couldn’t hold onto the cushion for long after Santiago Giamichelle weathered a late Ian Bracks surge to secure a 6-3, 7-5, victory. The Argentinian was originally serving for the match up 5-4 before being broken, however, the third-year's composure pushed through, immediately returning the favor before holding serve up 6-5.

Attention turned towards Sanchez’s bout on the anchor court with Ben Stecker. Holding a 4-2 advantage in the second set, his Cowboy counterpart reeled off a pair of wins before the Spaniard held serve to go up 5-4. Needing a break to prevent what could have been another tiebreaker, Sanchez tallied his first Big 12 win of the season as he flipped the script on Stecker, 7-6(3), 6-4.

UCF 4-3 Clinch-Wins Since 2024:

  • Feb. 11, 2024: vs. Miami (clinched 7-0 start, best in program history)
  • Mar. 28, 2024: vs. No. 24 Oklahoma State (first-ever Big 12 home match)
  • Apr. 6, 2024: vs. BYU (down multiple match points)
  • May 3, 2024: vs. Florida (first-ever win over Florida, second first-round win in program history)
  • Jan. 26, 2025: at No. 6 Arizona (clinched first-ever ITA Kickoff Weekend title)
  • Feb. 9, 2025: at Florida Atlantic (came back down 3-0)
  • Mar. 16, 2025: vs No. 10 Arizona (third-highest ranked win program history)
  • Apr. 11, 2025: at Oklahoma State (third win over the Cowboys since 2024)

UP NEXT

Sitting above .500 for the first time in conference play, the Knights will look to conclude their regular-season slate with a third-consecutive win as they head to Lubbock for a meeting with Texas Tech on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

Singles Results

  1. #84 Isaac Becroft (OSU) def. #77 Yassine Dlimi (UCF) 6-2, 6-3
  2. #81 Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Derek Pham (OSU) 6-0, 6-1
  3. Paul Colin (UCF) def. Alessio Basile (OSU) 6-3, 6-4
  4. Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) def. Ian Bracks (OSU) 6-3, 7-5
  5. Nicolas Kobelt (OSU) def. Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles Results

  1. Isaac Becroft/Alessio Basile (OSU) def. Yassine Dlimi/Emilio Sanchez (UCF) 6-3
  2. Mehdi Benchakroun/Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) vs. Ian Bracks/Thomas Gadecki (OSU) 4-5, unfinished
  3. Nicolas Kobelt/Finn Hopfe (OSU) def. Paul Colin/Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) 6-3