The 15th-ranked Florida men’s tennis team defeated No. 35 Alabama, 6-1, on Friday at the Alabama Tennis Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., as senior Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France) broke the all-time UF doubles wins record with the 94th of his career and became the seventh player in program history to reach 100 singles victories. His 194 overall career victories rank third in UF history.
“We played a good match, especially on the road,” head coach Andy Jackson said. “We had a lot of good things happen, particularly Spencer Newman (Miami, Fla.) winning against one of their better points. That was a big lift for us. We’re eager to get to get to Auburn for Sunday’s match.”
UF improves to 10-3 this spring, including 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Crimson Tide drop to 7-5 overall and 0-3 in league play.
Florida claimed the doubles point as the team swept all three courts for the fourth time this season. Freshman Andrew Butz (Vero Beach, Fla.) and sophomore Bob van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) netted their first win over a ranked opponent in their three matches as a doubles pair, topping No. 62 Vikram Reddy and Michael Thompson, 8-3, on court two. Sophomore Billy Federhofer (North Miami, Fla.) and junior Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) wrapped up the initial point with a court-three victory, also at 8-3, over Daniil Proksura and Trey Walston.
Lacroix and sophomore Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) put the finishing touch on the doubles sweep at the No. 1 position with an 8-6 win over Ricky Doverspike and Jarryd Botha to deliver the record-breaking win for the Paris native.
“I tried not to think about it while I was playing doubles today, but I’ve worked hard for four years and it’s paying off,” Lacroix said. “It also couldn’t have happened without some great doubles partners like Nestor Briceno, Antoine Benneteau and the guys on this year’s team.”
“It’s something that he should be proud of and something that we’re proud of for him,” Jackson said. “We also want our team to learn from what Alex has accomplished, and that’s what leadership is about.”
The sixth-ranked Gator senior quickly wrapped up career singles win No. 100 on court one with a straight-sets victory over Doverspike.
Slilam then dispatched Reddy, 6-3, 6-4, to push UF’s advantage to 3-0 before Alabama scored its lone point of the match, a court two win by Botha over Bangoura.
But UF’s depth was more than capable of lifting the Gators to the win as the freshman Newman provided the clincher on court five with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Thompson. Butz and Federhofer rounded out the six points for Florida, as Butz took a three-setter on court six and Federhofer wrapped up his court four win with a second-set tiebreaker.
“We got good poise out of Andrew and Spencer,” Jackson said. “They both played very poised under pressure. Even though Billy’s a sophomore, that’s really his first SEC singles match on the road and he responded well, beating a pretty good player. That’s what we’re going to have to have to have a chance in the league.”
The Gators next face Auburn on Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern.
