Florida Gators
#13 Illinois
No. 6 Men's Tennis Downs No. 13 Illinois, 5-2
Sunday, February 28, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The No. 6 Florida men's tennis team defeated visiting No. 13 Illinois, 5-2, on a breezy Sunday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis complex, improving to 8-2 this spring heading into SEC play later this week.
UF was in the unfamiliar position of needing to regain the momentum after dropping the doubles point to the Illini (4-5). However, the Gators were up to the task and came out firing in singles play, with the clincher coming from the racket of Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.), who blasted an ace past his former roommate, Johnny Hamui, at No. 2 singles to clinch the Florida victory.
“Illinois was a top-15 team who played loose, and we were a little nervous at the beginning,” UF head coach Andy Jackson said. “The key for us was dealing with that tension. Joey will benefit a huge amount from getting that clincher. He can be one of the better players in college. I think I put him in a bad situation playing at No. 2 when we played indoors, but he was back outdoors in his natural habitat and played very well.”
As singles action opened, Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) provided the early equalizer, dominating the sixth court with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Connor Roth. Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) was close behind with a straight-sets performance of his own, downing Stephen Hoh at the No. 5 position. The Gators are now a combined 17-2 at fifth and sixth singles in dual match play this spring.
On the first court, 17th-ranked Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France) won the first set before finding himself down a break at two different stages of the second set. Down 4-3, Lacroix found his groove and won the final three games to close out a 6-4, 6-4 win against No. 43 Dennis Nevolo, putting UF in position to seal the match with one more victory.
“We had a big crowd today, and that really helps,” Lacroix said. “After doubles, we went into the locker room and told everyone, 'That's just one point. It's just one point, and we need four points now to win.' We knew the longer we play, the better we are because Illinois isn't used to playing outdoors and dealing with the wind.”
Burkhardt, currently ranked No. 110, then provided that clincher on the second court. Up a set, Burkhardt fell behind, 3-0, in the second before clawing his way back into the set and breaking at 4-4, allowing him to serve out the match.
“The match was really meaningful, being able to clinch and playing against my roommate from last fall,” Burkhardt said. “I knew it would be a long match. Some matches hadn't been going my way lately, so it felt good to win again.”
“The fact that our two guys who got beat pretty badly in doubles came back and won their singles matches, that's the mark of a good team,” Jackson said.
At No. 3 singles, Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) suffered his first loss of the season in dual match play against No. 113 Marek Czerwinski.
Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Bob Van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) was the final Gator on the court and faced No. 57 Abe Souza, who headed into the day on a 10-match winning streak. The two-hour, 33-minute battle needed a third-set tiebreaker to decide a winner. At 6-6 in the tiebreaker, Van Overbeek ended a lengthy rally with a beautiful drop shot for the mini-break and served out the match on the following point.
“We beat them at some good points with the wins at No. 1 and No. 4,” Jackson said. “Those positions have been consistent points for Illinois, especially since Souza hadn't lost in a dual match all year.”
Florida opens SEC play at Arkansas on Friday and continues with a road test at LSU on Sunday.
UF vs. Illinois
Doubles
No. 1 – Czerwinski/Hoh (UI) def. (10) Benneteau/Lacroix (UF) – 9-7*
No. 2 – Hamui/Nevolo (UI) def. (34) Bangoura/Burkhardt (UF) – 8-2
No. 3 – Cash/Van Overbeek (UF) vs. Abdelnour/Souza (UI) – 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
No. 1 – (17) Alexandre Lacroix (UF) def. (43) Dennis Nevolo (UI) – 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 – (110) Joey Burkhardt (UF) def. Johnny Hamui (UI) – 6-2, 6-4*
No. 3 – (113) Marek Czerwinski (UI) def. Antoine Benneteau (UF) – 6-3, 7-5
No. 4 – Bob Van Overbeek (UF) def. (57) Abe Souza (UI) – 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)
No. 5 – Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) def. Stephen Hoh (UI) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 – Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Connor Roth (UI) – 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4
*Clinched doubles point/match victory
-UF-
