UF Earns ITA Preseason Individual Rankings
Friday, September 10, 2010 | Men's Tennis
Several Florida men's tennis players were among the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's preseason individual rankings, released on Friday.
Three Gators earned singles rankings among the nation's top 125, while two doubles pairs earned a spot in the top 60.
Senior Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France), a returning All-American in singles and doubles, received a No. 9 singles ranking after finishing at 12th in the nation in 2009-10 with a peak of No. 4. Also appearing on the singles list are sophomores Bob van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) at No. 105 and Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) at No. 111. It is the first career appearance in the ITA singles rankings for van Overbeek and Bangoura.
On the doubles side, Lacroix and junior Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) check in at No. 20. Lacroix and Antoine Benneteau finished last season ranked eighth. Bangoura and van Overbeek also appear in the doubles rankings at No. 56. Heading into this season, neither pair has played a collegiate doubles match together.
No other Southeastern Conference school has more than UF's three singles players in the rankings, while Tennessee, Ole Miss and Mississippi State each match that number.
The preseason individual rankings are the only set of rankings the ITA will produce until Jan. 4, 2011, when updated individual rankings and team preseason rankings will be released.
Florida Players in ITA Preseason Rankings
Singles
9 – Alexandre Lacroix
105 – Bob van Overbeek
111 – Sekou Bangoura Jr.
Doubles
20 – Alexandre Lacroix/Nassim Slilam
56 – Sekou Bangoura Jr./Bob van Overbeek
Players in the ITA Top 125 Singles Rankings (SEC Schools)
3 – Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee
2 – Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU
1 – Arkansas, Vanderbilt
0 – Alabama, South Carolina
