Senior Alexandre Lacroix went right to work Thursday, winning his first two matches of the main draw in the ITA All-American in Tulsa, Okla.
No. 9-Lacroix started strong in the first round, beating No. 66 Brennan Boyajian of North Carolina in straight sets (6-3, 6-4).
No. 51 Nick Meister of UCLA made Lacroix work in their second-round match, battling the senior for three sets before falling 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
After winning the Napa Valley Classic and Gator Invitational, Lacroix is on a mission to pick up his third singles championship of this young season. However, he has a tough matchup in round three against No. 21 Rhyne Williams of Tennessee.
Only a sophomore, Williams emerged as one of the top players in the country last spring, as he was the 2010 Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year, an SEC All-Freshman Team selection and a First Team All-SEC selection.
The doubles pair of Lacroix and Nassim Slilam defeated Ole Miss' sibling pair of Marcel and Chris Thiemann (9-7). Lacroix will face Williams twice today as Lacroix and Slilam take on Williams and John-Patrick Smith.
Tough day for women’s tennis: After reaching the final round of the qualifying draw of the ITA All-American Championships, three Gators came up short against tough opponents Thursday.
Freshmen Sofie Oyen and Alexandra Cercone and sophomore Caroline Hitimana all lost their matches.
All three Gators faced highly-ranked opponents, including two players ranked in the ITA’s top-25.
Oyen, who earned a spot in the qualifying as a “lucky loser,” lost to North Carolina State’s Sanaa Bhambri in three sets. The freshman proved a tough out, as she and Bhambri split the first two sets before Bhambri earned a 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 win.
Coming off five consecutive wins, Cercone looked to keep her streak alive against No. 21 Mallory Burdette of Stanford but lost (6-4, 7-6(6)).
Hitimana dropped her match against No. 22 Marta Lesniak of Southern Methodist in straight sets (6-3, 6-4).
In the main draw, the Gators didn’t fare any better, losing in both doubles and singles.
The duo of Lauren Embree and Joanna Mather fell to Arkansas’ Anouk Tigu and Claudine Paulson (8-5), while Oyen and Allie Will lost to Clemson’s Josipa Bek and Keri Wong (8-6).
Both doubles teams will play in the consolation draw on Friday.
No. 5 Will also lost in the first round against No. 20 Kristi Boxx of Mississippi in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 7-5).
