ORLANDO - The UCF men’s tennis have advanced to the semifinals after sweeping No. 30 Arizona State Thursday morning at the USTA National Campus.
The Knights opened the conference tournament in commanding fashion, claiming the doubles point in just 45 minutes of play before claiming three straight wins in singles play. With the win, the Knights secure their 20th win of the season.
UCF put the foot on the gas and didn't let up, striking first in doubles play. Just a week of removed from their last match up, the newly-formed tandem duo of Wissam Abderrahmann and Clement Lemire was once again met with Niels Villard and Shi Matsuoka after last week’s unfinished match on court three. With the motivation to finish what they had started, Abderrahman and Lemire dominated their opponents with a 6-1 result on three.
On the front two courts, it was anyone’s clinch as the two remaining duos of Yassine Dlimi and Paul Colin on one, and Luca Hotze and Nicolas Oliveira on court two, were both locked in a back-and-forth battle, trading points with their opponents. It was ultimately Hotze and Oliveira that would secure the doubles point, besting their opponent 7-5.
Oliveira wasted no time getting singles underway, handing Arizona State’s Niels Villard a near flawless defeat 6-1, 6-2 on court five.
Almost simultaneously, senior Dlimi was able to pick up a win on the front position as the Sun Devil’s Ofek Shimanov had to medically retire. Dlimi was leading the match 6-3, 3-3 when play was stopped.
Pedro Rodrigues continued to show off his impressive style on his new position on court three. With a win of three, the freshmen notched his first-ever clinch to his name against opponent Jelani Sarr, 6-4, 6-4, to complete the sweep and advance the Knights.
With the first round in the rearview, the Black and Gold move on to play in the semifinals, set to face the one-seed in the regular-season champions, the Arizona Wildcats. First serve is set for 2 p.m. on the collegiate courts at the USTA National Campus.
Singles Results
Doubles Results