The 10th-ranked UF men's tennis team defeated No. 34 LSU, 5-2, on Friday night at Linder Stadium. The Gators improved their record to 13-6 overall and 4-3 in conference play.
The Gators jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point. Sophomore Alex Lacroix (Paris, France) and freshman Carlos Cueto (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) took the first doubles match after defeating James Cluskey and Jonathan Tragardh, 8-4, in 41 minutes. The pair have won 17 consecutive doubles matches since their first and only loss on Jan. 16. Sophomores Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.) and Johnny Hamui (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) clinched the doubles point with an 8-5 win over Sebastian Carlsson and Julien Gauthier. The 17th-ranked pair of freshman Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) and redshirt junior Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt,France) downed the 8th-ranked pair of Neal Skupski and Michael Venus, 8-4, to complete the UF sweep.
“I thought we played a nice match,” said head coach Andy Jackson. “We are starting to put more together as the team gets healthier. I'm really looking forward to the most important part of the season, the post-season.”
Dadamo needed only 54 minutes to cruise past Mark Bowtell, 6-3, 6-0, to extend the Gators' advantage to 2-0. Dadamo is now 14-4 this spring in singles action. Benneteau came back from 4-2 in the first set to defeat Carlsson, 7-5. The redshirt junior capitalized on his momentum, motoring to a 6-0 victory in the second set to boost Florida to 3-0.
No. 27 Cueto kept the first set very interesting, battling with No. 6 Venus for each point but eventually falling, 6-4, in the first and 6-2 in the second.
No. 28 Lacroix secured Florida its 10th win at home this season with a straight-set win over James Cluskey. The sophomore won 6-1, 7-6 to move Florida ahead 4-1. With the match already clinched, Hamui became the fourth Gator to earn a straight-set victory, defeating Gauthier, 7-5, 6-2 on court five.
The squad will play their final regular-season home match on Sunday as they host Arkansas at 1 p.m. The first 250 fans will receive a tennis visor, courtesy of Gatorade. In addition, fans will receive free ice cream during the singles competition. Fans are encouraged to stick around after the match because the members of the UF tennis team and coaching staff will be hosting a post-match clinic to all children in eighth grade or under. Live scoring and official results is available at www.GatorZone.com.
College Men's Tennis
Gainesville, Fla.
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Friday, April 3, 2009
Final Score: Florida 5, LSU 2
Doubles
No. 1 (17) Benneteau/Burkhardt (UF) def. (8) Skupski/Venus (LSU), 8-4
No. 2 Dadamo/Hamui (UF) def. Carlsson/Gauthier (LSU), 8-5
No. 3 Cueto/Lacroix (UF) def. Cluskey/Tragardh (LSU), 8-4
Singles
No. 1 (6) Michael Venus (LSU) def. (27) Carlos Cueto (UF), 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 (28) Alex Lacroix (UF) def. James Cluskey (LSU), 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
No. 3 Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 7-5, 6-0
No. 4 Neal Skupski (LSU) def. Joey Burkhardt (UF), 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
No. 5 Johnny Hamui (UF) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU), 7-5, 6-2
No. 6 Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Mark Bowtell (LSU), 6-3, 6-0
Order of Finish: Doubles – 3, 2, 1 Singles – 6, 3, 1, 2, 5, 4
-UF-
