Florida Gators
USF
M-Tennis Defeats In-State Foe USF, 7-0
Friday, February 20, 2009 | Men's Tennis
The No. 11 University of Florida men's tennis team (7-3) downed No. 37 University of South Florida (4-3), 7-0, on Friday evening. With the victory, the Gators are now a perfect 6-0 at home and an unblemished 8-0 against the Bulls under head coach Andy Jackson.
“I knew going in that South Florida was a talented team because they had defeated Florida State,” Jackson said. “On Sunday we face Miami, who I think is a top-10 team. They have been playing without their top two guys and they will both be back on Sunday so it will be an exciting challenge.”
Florida worked quickly on the doubles courts to secure the 1-0 lead with wins on courts two and three. Florida's Carlos Cueto (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) and Alex Lacroix (Paris, France) defeated USF's Jamal Adderley and Yannick Yoshizawa, 8-3, in only 28 minutes. The pair has won eight consecutive matches after falling in their first match of the season in January. Sophomores Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.) and Johnny Hamui (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) took out Wael Kilani and Romain Deridder just over 10 minutes later as they took an 8-3 decision on court two to clinch the doubles point.
No. 21 Lacroix defeated Kilani in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 to extend the Gators' lead to 2-0. Ten minutes later, redshirt junior No. 94 Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) claimed the second singles match for the Gators in two sets, 6-2, 7-5, over Mahmoud Hamed. In a heated battle between Dadamo and Thomas Estrada, Dadamo earned the win and clinched the match for the Gators with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory.
With the match settled, freshman Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) came from behind for an impressive victory over Deridder. After losing the first set, 3-6, 64th-ranked Burkhardt battled back to claim the second set, 7-5, and a third-set tiebreaker 1-0 (10-5) for the victory.
No. 85 Hamui was also victorious in three sets, defeating Jamal Adderley on court five, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. The sun began to set and the temperatures began to drop but the crowd stuck around to watch No. 24 Cueto and No. 54 Lucas Jovita battle it out on center court. Cueto claimed the first set, 6-4, but fell in the second, 0-6. Clearly battling pains in his legs, the freshman pushed through to defeat Jovita 1-0 (11-9) in the final set. The victory gave the Gators a final 7-0 advantage and marked the second time this spring that the Gators have swept an opponent at home.
Florida returns to action on Sunday as they take on No. 24 Miami at 1 p.m. Admission is free and the first 200 fans receive a free t-shirt courtesy of GRU.
College Men's Tennis
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Final Score: Florida 7, USF 0
Doubles
No. 1 (54) Jovita/Estrada (USF) def. (23) Benneteau/Burkhardt (UF), 8-4
No. 2 Dadamo/Hamui (UF) def. Kilani/Deridder (USF), 8-3
No. 3 Cueto/Lacroix (UF) def. Adderley/Yoshizawa (USF), 8-3
Singles
No. 1 (24) Carlos Cueto (UF) def. (53) Lucas Jovita (USF), 6-4, 0-6, 1-0 (11-9)
No. 2 (21) Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Wael Kilani (USF), 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 (94) Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Mahmoud Hamed (USF), 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 (64) Joey Burkhardt (UF) def. Romain Deridder (USF), 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-5)
No. 5 (85) Johnny Hamui (UF) def. Jamal Adderley (USF), 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Thomas Estrada (USF), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Order of Finish: Doubles – 3, 2, 1 Singles – 2, 3, 6, 4, 5, 1
-UF-
