The University of Florida's 11th-ranked men's tennis team defeated Florida Atlantic, 7-0, Saturday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex, improving its record to 4-1 this spring.
“It was a nice match against a team that was eager to play us,” UF head coach Andy Jackson said. “We kept our momentum going into a very important event next weekend. Florida Atlantic has a good team, and the Gators get everybody's best shot, especially from other teams in Florida.”
The Gators sped to the doubles point to begin the afternoon, clinching in just 34 minutes. Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) and Joey Burkhardt finished off an 8-3 win at No. 2, while Nassim Slilam (France) and Daniel Cash (Norway), playing their first doubles match together, ran off an 8-0 victory at No. 3 to clinch. The 10th-ranked duo of Antoine Benneteau (France) and Alexandre Lacroix (France) encountered a fighting effort by Marc Abdelnour and Lawrence Harradine at the top spot. After staying on serve for the first nine games, the FAU pair broke the Gators' serve to take a 6-4 edge. Benneteau and Lacroix, however, rebounded to take the next four games and close out their match, 8-6.
Benneteau led off the scoring for Florida in singles play, dispatching Joshua Scholl at the No. 4 position in a straight-sets match that lasted less than one hour. Slilam continued the trend, taking down Derek Madon on the fifth court, 6-0, 6-4, to put the match within reach for the Gators. Seventh-ranked Lacroix then provided the clincher for Florida, taking care of business at the No. 1 position, defeating the Owls' Marc Abdelnour, 6-2, 6-4.
Once the match was clinched for Florida, a pair of freshmen, Bangoura and Billy Federhofer (North Miami, Fla.), posted wins playing a tiebreaker for the third set, extending the Gator lead to 6-0.
The final match of the day provided the most drama, a three-setter on the second court between Burkhardt and FAU's Harradine. Burkhardt, playing his first career match at the No. 2 spot, raced to the lead with a 6-1 first set, but saw the second set go Harradine's way, 6-2. After two sets, the dual match outcome had not been decided, so the two played on into a full third set. After falling behind 3-0, Burkhardt proceeded to win the next five games and eventually closed out the final set, 6-4.
“I started well and had a lot of chances in the second set, but wound up losing,” Burkhardt said. “My confidence was low and my serve went down the drain, but I kept fighting. I'm a competitive person, so I never give up.”
“We've been riding Antoine and Joey all season,” Jackson said. “We'll keep riding them for a long time. Joey has been good at winning time. He's gotten a lot better. We've got a lot of tennis players here and not a lot of guys who I consider No. 5 and No. 6 players.”
In its four wins this spring, Florida has not allowed a single point to its opponent, winning those matches by a combined score of 25-0.
The Gators are next in action at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship at 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 12, in Charlottesville, Va., where they face No. 6 Baylor, which gave Florida its only loss this season. Florida will play at least three matches with the possibility for a fourth at the event. In the 16-team field, six come from the Southeastern Conference.
Florida's next home date is on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m., facing the University of South Florida.
UF vs. Florida Atlantic
Doubles
No. 1 – (10) Benneteau/Lacroix (UF) def. Abdelnour/Harradine (FAU) – 8-6
No. 2 – Bangoura/Burkhardt (UF) def. Madon/Scholl (FAU) – 8-3
No. 3 – Cash/Slilam (UF) vs. Garabovic/Braunworth (FAU) – 8-0*
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
No. 1 – (7) Alexandre Lacroix (UF) def. Marc Abdelnour (FAU) – 6-2, 6-4*
No. 2 – Joey Burkhardt (UF) def. Lawrence Harradine (FAU) – 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
No. 3 – Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) def. Ervin Garabovic (FAU) – 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-1)
No. 4 – Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Joshua Scholl (FAU) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 – Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Derek Madon (FAU) – 6-0, 6-4
No. 6 – Billy Federhofer (UF) def. (Matthew Braunworth (FAU) – 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1, 6, 3, 2
*Clinching victory
-UF-
