Florida Gators
SEC Tournament (Alabama)
No. 10 M-Tennis Advances to SEC Championship Semifinal With 4-3 Win Over No. 13 Alabama
Friday, April 24, 2009 | Men's Tennis
The 10th-ranked men's tennis team (17-7, 8-4 SEC) showed their determination, coming from behind to defeat No. 13 Alabama, 4-3, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Championship on Friday afternoon. The Gators came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Crimson Tide (20-7, 7-5 SEC) and advance to the semifinals for the seventh-straight year.
The Gators found themselves in a rare position, down 1-0 after dropping the doubles point. For the first time in 22 matches and in over three months, the doubles pair of Carlos Cueto (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) and Alex Lacroix (Paris France) was defeated, 8-4, by Ricky Doverspike and Michael Thompson. Sophomores Johnny Hamui (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.) were defeated by Saketh Myneni and Billy Mertz, 8-4, to clinch the point in Alabama's favor.
Florida quickly found themselves down 3-0 as they were handed losses in straight sets on courts one and three. No. 21 Cueto fell to No. 22 Mayneni, 6-4, 6-1, while redshirt junior Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Bilancourt, France) was defeated by Dan Buikema by the same margin.
Just one match away from being eliminated from the tournament, Florida began to turn the match around. Hamui was the first to earn a victory in singles for the Orange and Blue, defeating Mertz in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Dadamo downed Michael Jung, 7-5, 6-3, on court six to narrow Alabama's lead to 3-2 and put the match within reach for the Gators.
Freshman Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) tied the match at 3-3 after a win on court four. Competing in his first SEC tourney, Burkhardt took out Thompson in a close first set, 7-5, and a speedy second set, 6-1.
With the match tied, the opportunity to move into the semifinals rested on the shoulders of No. 30 Lacroix and No. 87 Mathieu Thiabaudeau. By the time court two had become the deciding match, Lacroix and Thiabaudeau had each claimed one set. Lacroix took the first, 6-4, before dropping the second, 4-6. The Florida sophomore pulled ahead and claimed the third and final set, 6-3, to earn the victory for the Orange and Blue.
The fourth-seeded UF squad will continue its quest for the fourth-SEC tournament title in program history as they take on No. 1 seed Ole Miss on Saturday at noon ET. The Rebels advanced to the semi-finals with a 4-2 win over LSU on Friday afternoon. Live scoring is available at www.GatorZone.com.
College Men's Tennis
Auburn, Ala.
Yarbrough Tennis Center
Friday, April 24, 2009
Final Score: No. 10 Florida – 4, No. 13 Alabama - 3
Doubles
No. 1 Benneteau/Burkhardt (UF) v. (26) Thibaudeau/Buikema (UA), DNF
No. 2 Myneni/Mertz (UA) def. Dadamo/Hamui (UF), 8-6
No. 3 Doverspike/Thompson (UA) def. Cueto/Lacroix (UF), 8-4
Singles
No. 1 (22) Saketh Myneni (UA) def. (21) Carlos Cueto (UF), 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 (30) Alex Lacroix (UF) def. (87) Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3*
No. 3 Dan Buikema (UA) def. Antoine Benneteau (UF), 6-4, 6-1
No. 4 Joey Burkhardt (UF) def. Michael Thompson (UA), 7-5, 6-1
No. 5 Johnny Hamui (UF) def. Billy Mertz (UA), 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Michael Jung (UA), 7-5, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles – 3, 2 Singles – 1, 3, 5, 6, 4, 2
-UF-
