Florida Gators
#2 Tennessee (SEC Tournament Final)
Men's Tennis Falls in SEC Tournament Championship Match
Monday, April 26, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The sixth-ranked Florida men's tennis team came up short against second-ranked Tennessee, 4-0, in the Southeastern Conference final on Sunday at the University of Kentucky's Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Ky.
· Video: Interview With Head Coach Andy Jackson
The Gators now hold a 19-4 record with all four losses coming against teams ranked in the top six at the time of the match, two of them to teams ranked No. 2 in the nation. Sunday marked UF's sixth championship match appearance in the 21 years of the SEC Men's Tennis Tournament.
“I saw a very deserving championship-level team in Tennessee,” Florida head coach Andy Jackson said. “They beat us and beat us badly, but just like two weeks ago it wasn't from lack of effort or commitment on our part. I was very proud of our guys. We had a good tournament. We were runner-up in the league and are runner-up in the tournament. It's not what we wanted, but we're proud of those achievements.”
The Gators played a closely-contested doubles point, with Daniel Cash (Oslo, Norway) and Bob Van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) coming back from being down a break to win on court three, 8-6, breaking UT's serve for the clinching point. However, the Volunteers took courts one and three, leaving the Gators trailing, 1-0, headed into singles play.
Tennessee scored victories on courts five and one, with Matteo Fago topping Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) and top-ranked John-Patrick Smith defeating Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France). Smith and Lacroix have now split their two meetings this season.
With Florida down, 3-0, Tennessee's Boris Conkic had an opportunity to serve out his match with Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) on court two. With Burkhardt holding a break point, rain forced the action to halt and caused a 45-minute delay before play resumed on the indoor courts.
Once action restarted, Burkhardt held tough and got the needed break. But Conkic was able to break back in the next game to seal his point and give Tennessee the victory.
Court four provided high drama in the first set as Van Overbeek and Tennys Sandgren battled neck-and-neck on serve into a tiebreaker, which lasted until Van Overbeek hit a forehand winner to take the tiebreaker, 16-14.
At the time the match ended, Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) had just evened his court six match at one set each, while Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) was also in control of his second set after dropping the first.
In spite of the Gators' disappointing finish to the tournament, standout freshmen Bangoura and Van Overbeek and were named to the All-Tournament Team in recognition of their outstanding play over the past three days.
“Their whole freshman season in the SEC has been very, very exciting for us,” Jackson said. “They're two of the main reasons why we've had a good year. Not the only reasons, but those are two guys who definitely deserved to be on the All-Tournament Team.”
Florida vs. Tennessee – SEC Tournament Final
Doubles
1 – (4) Smith/D. Sandgren (UT) def. (14) Benneteau/Lacroix (UF) – 8-3
2 – (8) Conkic/Williams (UT) def. (51) Bangoura/Burkhardt (UF) – 8-5*
3 – Cash/Van Overbeek (UF) def. Fago/Jones (UT) – 8-6
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2*
Singles
1 – (1) John-Patrick Smith (UT) def. (5) Alexandre Lacroix (UF) – 6-2, 6-1
2 – (37) Boris Conkic (UT) def. (113) Joey Burkhardt (UF) – 6-0, 6-2
3 – Antoine Benneteau (UF) vs. (44) Rhyne Williams (UT) – 4-6, 4-1 (DNF)
4 – Bob Van Overbeek vs. (114) Tennys Sandgren (UT) – 7-6 (14), 1-1 (DNF)
5 – Matteo Fago (UT) def. Nassim Slilam (UF) – 6-3, 6-1
6 – Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) vs. Davey Sandgren (UT) – 2-6, 6-1 (DNF)
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 2*
-UF-
