Florida Gators
Kentucky
Lacroix Leads No. 9 UF Past No. 11 Kentucky, 4-3
Saturday, March 7, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Sophomore Alex Lacroix (Paris, France) took down Bruno Agostinelli, the No. 2-ranked player in the nation, to clinch Florida's win over Kentucky, 4-3, on Friday evening at Linder Stadium in a match that lasted almost three hours. With the win, the Gators improved to 10-3 on the season and 1-0 in Southeastern Conference play.
It only took 32 minutes for the first UF doubles tandem to collect a win, as No. 18 Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) and Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) downed the 20th-ranked pair of Agostinelli and Brad Cox, 8-1. The victory on court two by sophomores Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.) and Johnny Hamui (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) did not come as easy, but the pair was victorious over Graeme Dyce and Eric Quigley, 9-7, and secured the doubles point for UF. Freshman Carlos Cueto (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) teamed with Lacroix to complete the Gator sweep, downing Alex Musialek and Alberto Gonzalez in a tiebreak 8-7 (7-1).
The Wildcats evened the score at one apiece with a win at No. 3 singles, but UF regained the lead when Dadamo won 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) at No. 5 singles. Benneteau earned the Gators' third point with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) win on court two over Cox.
Kentucky evened the match at 3-3 and the deciding point came down to the match on court one. Lacroix took the first set from Agostinelli, 7-5, but dropped the second, 6-4. Lacroix opened the third set winning the first three games, but Agostinelli fought back to tie it 3-3. The Gators clinched the match as Lacroix won the last three games and won the match 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
“Four of our next five matches are against teams ranked in the top 11 in the nation,” said head coach Andy Jackson. “To win a close one like this is something that we need going forward. We've got a tough stretch coming up. Kentucky is a contender for the conference championship and this is a good win for us.”
The Gators continue SEC play as they host No. 37 Vanderbilt on Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission is free. Live scoring and official results can be found at www.GatorZone.com.
College Men's Tennis
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Final Score: Florida 4, Kentucky 3
Doubles
No. 1 (18) Benneteau/Burkhardt (UF) def. (20) Agostinelli/Cox (UK), 8-1
No. 2 (61) Dadamo/Hamui (UF) def. Dyce/Quigley (UK), 9-7*
No. 3 (80) Cueto/Lacroix (UF) def. Musialek/Gonzalez (UK), 8-7 (7-1)
Singles
No. 1 (34) Alex Lacroix (UF) def. (2) Bruno Agostinelli (UK), 7-5, 4-6, 6-3*
No. 2 Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Brad Cox (UK), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
No. 3 (99) Eric Quigley (UK) def. Joey Burkhardt (UF), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 Alex Musialek (UK) def. Johnny Hamui (UF), 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Graeme Dyce (UK), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
No. 6 Alberto Gonzelez (UK) def. Eric Corace (UF), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
Order of Finish: Doubles – 1, 2, 3 Singles – 3, 5, 4, 2, 6, 1
