No. 12 Men's Tennis Sweeps No. 21 Southern California in First Round of ITA Kickoff WeekendNo. 12 Men's Tennis Sweeps No. 21 Southern California in First Round of ITA Kickoff Weekend

No. 12 Men's Tennis Sweeps No. 21 Southern California in First Round of ITA Kickoff Weekend

by Franki Noble

BERKELEY, Calif. - The No. 12 UCF men’s tennis team have advanced to the championship match at the Berkeley site of ITA Kickoff Weekend after delivering a commanding sweep over No. 21 Southern California on Friday.

The day opened with an exhilarating doubles performance, featuring the same three tandems taking the courts for the fifth consecutive match.

Courts two and three wrapped up nearly simultaneously, as Nicolas Oliveira and Luca Hotze fell 6-4 just moments before Mehdi Benchakroun and Wissam Abderrahman continued their strong run together, securing a 6-2 win.

Attention then shifted to the front court, where seniors Paul Colin and Yassine Dlimi mounted an impressive comeback to force a tiebreak at 6-6. After trading early blows, the Knights surged ahead and claimed the doubles point with a 7(7)-6(4) finish.

Singles play brought no shortage of intensity, with every court battling through either three sets or at least one tiebreak. Benchakroun set the tone, taking care of business in straight sets against Jack McCarthy. After a tight 7-5 opener, he closed out the match decisively, 6-1.

On court six, newcomer Clement Lemire earned his first victory as a Knight, defeating USC’s Andrin Casanova 6-2, 7-5. Dlimi then sealed the sweep on court one, grinding through back-to-back tiebreak sets to clinch the match for the Black and Gold, 7-5, 7-5.

The rest of the matches made up of Pedro Rodrigues, Abderrahman and Oliveira all went unfinished amid the sweep.

The victory marks the program’s first sweep of a ranked opponent since 2021, when the Knights blanked No. 24 Oklahoma on the road.

With another dominant start to Kickoff Weekend, the Knights look to replicate last season’s success as they compete tomorrow for a spot in the ITA Indoor Championships. UCF will learn its opponent following the conclusion of this afternoon’s matchup between No. 15 California and No. 17 Oklahoma.

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Singles Results

  1. Yassine Dlimi (UCF) def. Branko Djuric (Southern California): 7-5, 7-5
  2. Wissam Abderrahman (UCF) vs. Nathan Trouve (Southern California): 6-4, 3-6, uf
  3. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Jack McCarthy (Southern California): 7-5, 6-1
  4. Pedro Rodrigues (UCF) vs. Max Exsted (Southern California): 6-3, 4-6, uf
  5. Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) vs. Niels Hoffman (Southern California): 6(6)-7(8), 6-3, uf
  6. Clement Lemire (UCF) def. Andrin Casanova (Southern California): 6-2, 7-5

Doubles Results

  1. Yassine Dlimi/Paul Colin (UCF) def. Andrin Casanova (USC): 7(7)-6(4)
  2. Wissam Abderrahman/Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Connor Church/Branko Djuric (USC): 6-2
  3. Max Exsted/Nathan Trouve (USC) def. Luca Hotze/Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) 6-4