Florida Gators
#5 Baylor (ITA Team Indoors - Round of 16)
No. 12 Men's Tennis Downs No. 5 Baylor to Reach Quarterfinals at ITA Indoors
Friday, February 12, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The University of Florida's 12th-ranked men's tennis team posted a 4-2 victory over No. 5 Baylor in the Round of 16 to open competition in the 2010 ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Friday at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
Florida (5-1) avenged its lone loss of the season in exciting fashion, with three singles matches going to a third set and the doubles point coming down to a tiebreaker on the first court. The loss was Baylor's first of the season (5-1).
“It's clear that we've made significant progress since three weeks ago,” UF head coach Andy Jackson said. “We're very excited to beat Baylor. They've added a new player to their lineup since our first match, so they are even better now than they were when we played them in Waco.”
Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) and Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) provided the first win of the day at No. 2 doubles, but Baylor responded with a victory of its own at No. 3. However, 10th-ranked Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) and Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France) pulled out a 9-8 (3) win at first doubles to clinch the point for the Gators. After losing the first point of the tiebreaker, the UF duo rattled off six consecutive points and went on to clinch the doubles point for the Gators.
“We played very well at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles,” Jackson said. “There were a couple of fantastic points in that tiebreaker. It was a very entertaining match for anyone who didn't care who won.”
Florida once again received strong singles play from Benneteau, who posted a straight-sets win No. 3 singles to give Florida a 2-1 lead after Bob Van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) came up short on the fourth court.
“We rode Antoine today, and we'll continue to ride him in the future,” Jackson noted.
The other two Florida wins came from Bangoura at No. 5 and Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) at No. 6. Bangoura dropped his first set, but came roaring back, while Slilam shook off a second-set loss to pull out the victory. Bangoura and Slilam then posted matching 6-1 third-set scores to close out the Gator victory, with Slilam picking up the clincher.
“[Bangoura] Jr. played fantastic as the match wore on,” Jackson observed. “Nassim played the same guy who basically crushed him three weeks ago, and he has obviously made progress in his transition since then and will continue to come along.”
The match at No. 1 singles between Florida's seventh-ranked Lacroix and Baylor's Denes Lukacs was suspended once the Gators clinched. At the time play was stopped, the third set was on serve after three games.
Florida advances to the quarterfinals, facing No. 3 Ohio State at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
“We're eager to play Ohio State and are excited for another match against a team that, like Baylor, has a chance to win the NCAA,” Jackson said.
Results and links to live scoring will be available on www.GatorZone.com. Complete tournament information can be found on the ITA's website or Virginia's official athletic site.
Florida vs. Baylor results
Doubles
No. 1 – (10) Benneteau/Lacroix (UF) vs. Maytin/Rux (BU) – 9-8 (3)*
No. 2 – Bangoura/Burkhardt (UF) def. Horny/Lukacs (BU) – 8-5
No. 3 – (38) Bley/Bucko (BU) def. Cash/Van Overbeek (UF) – 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
No. 1 – (7) Alexandre Lacroix (UF) vs. Denes Lukacs (BU) – 7-5, 3-6, 1-2 (DNF)
No. 2 – (11) Jordan Rux (BU) def. Joey Burkhardt (UF) – 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 – Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Attila Bucko (BU) – 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 – Dominik Mueller (BU) def. Bob Van Overbeek (UF) – 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 – Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) def. Roberto Maytin (BU) – 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 – Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Maros Horny (BU) – 6-4, 3-6, 6-1*
Order of Finish: 4, 3, 2, 5, 6
*Clinching victory
-UF-
