Florida Gators
UCF
M-Tennis Downs UCF, 6-1
Thursday, February 5, 2009 | Men's Tennis
The 7th-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team rolled past UCF, 6-1, to earn their fifth-consecutive dual match victory. The Gators now own a 9-0 series record over the Knights.
“I think we played a good match in difficult conditions,” said head coach Andy Jackson. “We needed a chance to develop our depth and today allowed us to do so.”
Florida secured a 1-0 lead as all three doubles teams claimed victories. In their first dual match of the season as a pair, junior Daniel Cash (Oslo, Norway) and sophomore Erik Corace (Naples, Fla.) collected the first win for the Gators, defeating Johan Beigart and Danny Colon, 8-3. Also playing as a team for the first time this spring, sophomores Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.) and Alex Lacroix (Paris, France) clinched the doubles point for the Gators, downing Jo Delinks and Eugene Dolgovykh, 8-2. Freshman Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) and redshirt junior Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt,France) improved their record to 5-2 as a team after the duo defeated Marc Rocafort and Blaze Schwartz, 8-6, from the No. 1 position.
Playing on court three, Burkhardt was the first Gator to earn a singles point, defeating Schwartz handily, 6-1, 6-0. Dadamo was next for the Gators, defeating Rocafort in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Benneteau clinched the match for the Gators on court two, taking out Tarek Ben Soltane, 6-2, 6-2, and is now 2-0 from the No. 2 position.
A little over five minutes later, Lacroix extended the Gators' lead, 5-0, after defeating Beigart on court one, 6-2, 6-2. Cash claimed his first singles win of the dual match season after he outlasted Colon, 6-2, 6-4.
Florida travels to Champaign, Ill. to face the University of Illinois in the team's first road dual match. The team will stay in Illinois and participate in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 13-16. Please check www.GatorZone.com for updated results.
College Men's Tennis
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Final Score: Florida 6, UCF 1
Doubles
No. 1 Benneteau/Burkhardt (UF) def. Rocafort/Schwartz (UCF), 8-6
No. 2 Dadamo/Lacroix (UF) def. Delinks/Dolgovykh (UCF), 8-2
No. 3 Cash/Corace (UF) def. Beigart/Colon (UCF), 8-3
Singles
No. 1 Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Johan Beigart (UCF), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Terek Ben Soltane (UCF), 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 (63) Joey Burkhardt def. Blaze Schwartz (UCF), 6-1, 6-0
No. 4 Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Marc Rocafort (UCF), 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 Eugene Dolgovykh (UCF) def. Erik Corace (UF), 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
No. 6 Daniel Cash (UF) def. Danny Colon (UCF), 6-2, 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles – 3, 2, 1 Singles – 3, 4, 2, 1, 6, 5
-UF-
