No. 7 Men's Tennis Prepares for USF
Friday, February 19, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The seventh-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team welcomes in-state rival University of South Florida to Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex on Sunday for a 1 p.m. showdown.
The Gators, fresh off a pair of victories against top-10 opponents at the ITA Team Indoor Championship, jumped five spots in the national rankings this week to No. 7, their highest ranking of the season. The meeting with USF marks the first of three home dates in the span of eight days for the Gator men, who also host Florida State on Feb. 24 and Illinois on Feb. 28.
Junior Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France), ranked 17th nationally, holds a 20-6 singles record in 2009-10, including 5-2 at the No. 1 position in dual match play. Sophomore Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.), with a 7-2 spring record, also moved into the latest rankings at No. 110. Redshirt senior Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) remains undefeated in dual match play with an identical 7-0 mark in both singles and doubles, where he plays alongside Lacroix. Benneteau and Lacroix hold down the 10th spot in the doubles rankings.
Also in the latest doubles poll, Burkhardt and freshman Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) moved into a No. 35 ranking with a 6-4 spring record together. They are 3-3 on the No. 2 court in dual match play.
The Gators head into the USF match also on the heels of a pair of individual honors this week, as Bangoura was named the SEC Freshman of the Week, while sophomore Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) earned All-Tournament Team honors for his 3-0 mark at the ITA Team Indoors.
The Gators hold an all-time 43-3 record against USF, including 23-1 in Gainesville, while UF is a perfect 8-0 against the Bulls under head coach Andy Jackson. The most recent meeting between the teams came in 2009, when Florida scored a 7-0 victory at home.
USF currently holds a 2-4 record, though all four losses came against top-40 teams, and the Bulls face Middle Tennessee State at home today before making the trip to Gainesville. Two players appear in the singles rankings for USF, with Wael Kilani at No. 59 and Jamal Adderley rated No. 91.
The teams also have familiarity with one another as the Gators and Bulls both participated in last fall's Gator Invitational in Gainesville and the Seminole Invitational in Tallahassee. Florida players posted a 5-2 singles record and a 2-0 doubles mark against USF opponents in those events.
Admission is free for home matches.
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