Florida Gators
ITA Indoor Round of 16 (Stanford)
No. 7 M-Tennis Falls To No. 11 Stanford, 4-3, At ITA Indoors
Friday, February 13, 2009 | Men's Tennis
The No. 7 UF Men's Tennis team suffered its second narrow defeat in as many matches as No. 11 Stanford defeated the Gators, 4-3, in the round of 16 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Florida jumped out to a 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point. Sophomore Alex Lacroix (Paris, France) and freshman Carlos Cueto (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) defeated Alex Clayton and Bradley Klahn, 8-6, and were closely followed by the No. 1 doubles pair of freshman Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) and redshirt junior Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt,France) defeated Richard Wire and Blake Muller, 9-8 (7-5). The match on court two between sophomore Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.) and junior Daniel Cash (Oslo, Norway) and Stanford's Matt Bruch and Ryan Thacher was called short with the score tied, 8-8.
After dropping matches on courts four and one, the Gators found a spark in a likely source. Lacroix continued his run in singles, earning his eighth win of the spring after downing 16th-ranked Bradley Klahn, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. The victory tied the match, 2-2, and marked Lacroix's fourth win over a ranked opponent since January.
The Gators took a 3-2 lead over Stanford after Benneteau defeated Bruch in straight sets, 6-2 and 7-5, from court three. Benneteau now owns a 7-3 spring season record. No. 62 Wire put Stanford back in contention after earning a victory on court five and tying the score once again. All eyes were on court six as Stanford's Muller claimed a three-set thriller, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 to advance the Cardinal to the round of 8.
Florida will take on 18th-ranked Michigan on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET in the consolation round. The Wolverines fell to No. 2 Texas, 4-0, on Friday morning.
Live scoring of the Gators match versus Michigan is available at www.GatorZone.com and www.FightingIllini.com.
College Men's Tennis
Midtown Tennis Club
Chicago, Ill.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Final Score: Stanford 4, Florida 3
Doubles
No. 1 Benneteau/Burkhardt (UF) def. Wire/Muller (Stanford), 9-8 (7-5)
No. 2 Dadamo/Cash (UF) v. Bruch/Thacher (Stanford), DNF but was tied 8-8
No. 3 Lacroix/Cueto (UF) def. Clayton/Klahn (Stanford), 8-6
Singles
No. 1 (33) Alex Clayton def. (87) Carlos Cueto (UF), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Alex Lacroix (UF) def. (16) Bradley Klahn (Stanford), 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Matt Bruch (Stanford), 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 Ryan Thacher (Stanford) def. (63) Joey Burkhardt (UF), 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 (62) Richard Wire (Stanford) def. Jeff Dadamo (UF), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1
No. 6 Blake Muller (Stanford) def. Erik Corace (UF), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles – 3, 1 Singles – 4, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6
-UF-
