After opening it dual match season with an impressive shutout victory at home over UCF on Friday, the Gators men’s tennis team were dealt its first loss Sunday on the road against No. 6 Baylor.
Despite the disappointment in the 5-2 loss, Coach Andy Jackson leaves Waco with a positive perspective.
“We got a lot out of the match. Playing No. 6 on the road early in the season makes you tougher. We did some good things, but we’ve got a lot to learn,” Jackson said.
Jackson specifically cited the difficult task for freshmen to take on a top-10 team in their second match.
“All four freshmen put in good effort, but weren’t up to the test. It’s probably too much to ask of these guys two weeks after getting to school,” Jackson said.
It was not the best day for junior Alexandre Lacroix either.
Coming into the match ranked No. 7 in singles, he dropped his match against ITA All American Denes Lukacs in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 decision.
Lukacs came into the match unranked after taking the fall season off to play in professional tournaments. Jackson expects Lukacs and Lacroix to be ranked in the top 10 at the end of the season.
Senior Antoine Benneteau and sophomore Joey Burkhardt won their singles matches on the fourth and fifth courts.
Florida gets a few days to regroup and prepare for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Saturday in Gainesville.
The Gators women’s tennis team opened its dual match season Sunday with a shutout victory over North Texas, extending its home match win streak to 67.
For only the third time in school history, Florida opened its dual match season with freshmen at the No. 1 and No. 2 courts.
One of the two highly ranked freshmen Lauren Embre, helped the Gators start by winning the first doubles match with sophomore Anastasia Revzina in 39 minutes.
Senior Marrit Boonstra and stand out freshman Allie Will, the No. 26-ranked doubles team, delivered the clinching win for the doubles point 11 minutes later.
All six Gators won their singles matches in straight sets.
