ORLANDO - In an unfamiliar setting but against a familiar foe, the No. 12 men’s tennis team secured its third straight win over No. 18 Florida on Sunday at the USTA National Campus.
The Black and Gold jumped out to an early lead, claiming the doubles point in a tense tiebreaker. The Knights carried that momentum into singles play, powering to three victories to remain perfect at 7-0, matching a program best.
UCF stuck with its usual doubles pairings, which have surrendered just one doubles point all season. On court three, Luca Hotze and Nicolas Oliveira fell to their Gator opponents, but Mehdi Benchakroun and Wissam Abderrahman answered with a strong win on court two.
That left the deciding point on the front court, where seniors Paul Colin and Yassine Dlimi once again delivered in dramatic fashion, taking a tiebreaker to clinch the match 7(9)-6(7).
Dlimi kept the momentum rolling into singles, quickly earning a straight-set win, 6-2, 6-4. The Morocco native remains unbeaten on court one, improving to 5-0.
Benchakroun and Colin were unable to find their rhythm on the next two courts, dropping their matches to Florida.
With another ranked win within reach, Abderrahman, Oliveira and Clement Lemire each pushed their matches to three sets. Abderrahman was the first to finish, rallying for a 2-6, 6-2, 7(7)-6(4) victory.
On the back courts, Oliveira and Lemire traded blows with their opponents, both nearing wins of their own. Lemire was locked in a tiebreak at 10-all when Oliveira closed out his match 6(5)-7(7), 6-3, 6-4, sealing the Knights’ victory.
Later Gators 👋 pic.twitter.com/dwWjOVPpnS
— UCF Men's Tennis (@UCF_MTennis) February 1, 2026
UP NEXT
The Knights return to the courts later this week as they welcome the Miami Hurricanes for a 6 p.m. match this Friday, February 6 at USTA National Campus.
Singles Results
Doubles Results
