No. 11 Men's Tennis Prepares for ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Friday, January 29, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The University of Florida's No. 11 men's tennis team hosts the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend this Saturday and Sunday at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
Florida will first face Furman on Saturday at 10 a.m. to open the weekend, followed by Penn State and Georgia Tech squaring off at 2 p.m. The second round takes place on Sunday, with the winners meeting at 1 p.m. following a 9 a.m. consolation match.
At stake in Sunday's championship will be a berth in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at Charlottesville, Va., which takes place Feb. 12-15. Each winner from the 15 sites hosting ITA Kick-Off Weekend events will earn a bid, along with host University of Virginia.
Florida enters the weekend with a 1-1 mark in 2010, including a home win over UCF and a hard-fought road loss against No. 6 Baylor. In both dual matches this young season, the Gators have placed three newcomers to the 2009-10 squad in the singles lineup.
“We don't really know how our lineup will shake out over the four months of the season,” head coach Andy Jackson noted at his Monday morning press conference this week. “We are very confident in the guys that we're playing, but we don't know what order is the best order to play them yet. Particularly with Bob Van Overbeek [Boca Raton, Fla.], Sekou Bangoura Jr. [Bradenton, Fla.] and Nassim Slilam [France] coming in this January, it gives us a lot of talent. We have to filter it out and see where those guys stack up.”
UF holds a 25-0 all-time record against Furman, dating back to the Gators' inaugural 1940 season, including an 8-0 mark during Jackson's tenure. Should Florida meet Georgia Tech on Sunday, it would mark the 47th meeting between the two, with Florida holding a 34-12 edge all-time. However, the Gators and Yellow Jackets have faced off just once since 1992, a 4-1 Florida win in the opening round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Florida and Penn State have never met in men's tennis.
Florida is led by junior Alexandre Lacroix (France), the nation's No. 7 singles player, who holds a 16-5 record in 2009-10, including 9-3 against ranked opponents. Senior Antoine Benneteau (France) and sophomore Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) both posted 2-0 records in singles dual match play last weekend. Lacroix and Benneteau also comprise the No. 10 doubles pair in the land, holding a 14-1 mark together, including an active five-match winning streak.
Admission to the event is free. Updates and results will be available on www.GatorZone.com.
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