Florida Gators
NCAA Individual Draws
UF Duo Downed in First Round of Men's Tennis NCAA Doubles Tournament
Friday, May 22, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Florida's No. 16 doubles pair of junior Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) and freshman Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine) fell to tournament host Texas A&M's No. 7 Austin Krajicek and Conor Pollock in the first round of NCAA doubles action Thursday at the Mitchell Tennis Center, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
The Gators got off to a slow start, as Burkhardt's serve was broken in UF's first service game, and the Aggies held serve throughout the set to take an early lead. The following set mirrored the first as Benneteau and Burkhardt broke the Texas A&M duo's first service game of the set and evened the score at one set each, forcing a decisive third set.
Unfortunately for the Orange and Blue, the match's established trend continued in the final set as Krajicek and Pollock went up a break at the first opportunity. Yet Benneteau and Burkhardt refused to surrender, breaking back in the set's fifth game to get back on serve. But needing to hold serve to force a tiebreaker in the third, the Gators' serve was again broken, clinching the match for Texas A&M.
Benneteau and Burkhardt finished the season with a 15-13 record together, including three wins against top-10 opponents.
NCAA Men's Tennis First Round Doubles Results (UF only)
(7) Krajicek/Pollock (Texas A&M) def. (16) Benneteau/Burkhardt (UF), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
-UF-
