Florida Gators
UCF
No. 2 UF Women's Tennis Blanks UCF, 7-0
Saturday, January 27, 2007 | Women's Tennis
The second-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team cruised past UCF, 7-0, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, as the Gators earned their 43rd consecutive regular-season home victory.
Florida needed just 28 minutes to sweep all three doubles positions and take a 1-0 lead, before racing out to quick advantages on the singles courts en route to its 29th straight home victory.
“I was very pleased with doubles,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We try to stress with our teams to be aggressive, make first serves and hit good returns. We were flawless in all three areas this afternoon and I was very pleased with that. I also think Central Florida is a better singles team than they are doubles team and we saw that, too.”
The Gators (2-0) next turn their attention to Sunday's showdown against No. 8 North Carolina (5-0). That match that begins at 1 p.m. at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. Admission is free.
“I think we're ready for Sunday,” Thornqvist said. “Early in the season, doubles becomes very important. If we can play on Sunday like we did today, we'll have a chance. North Carolina has some great doubles teams and we're going to have our hands full. We just need to concentrate on the things we need to do as a team.”
Whitney Benik (Delray Beach, Fla.) lost her attempt at double-bagel singles victory when Anna Yakimchenkova broke in the second game of the second set, but the Gator junior broke right back and polished off the impressive 6-0, 6-1 win on court No. 3 in 44 minutes to spot Florida a 2-0 lead.
“In doubles, everyone is playing amazing,” Benik said. “All three teams have good chemistry. Our team is so competitive with each other in practice and that makes it easier for these early matches because we don't feel rusty at all.”
Senior Nina Suvak (Slovenia) also flirted with her second consecutive double-bagel, holding a decisive lead over Zoe Kent until the Golden Knight earned a break in the fourth game of the second set. Suvak rallied to win the final three games to take the 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Freshman Csilla Borsanyi (Hungary) clinched the dual match win seconds after Suvak's victory, earning a 6-1, 6-0 decision over Megan Hunter at the No. 4 position in 53 minutes. Borsanyi opened with a 2-0 lead before Hunter got on the board with a break. The Gator rookie refocused by breaking right back and won the last nine games to capture the victory.
Anastasia Revzina (Moscow, Russia) gave the Gators a 5-0 lead in the team scoring, after polishing off Becky Gordon, 6-1, 6-0, on court No. 5 in one hour. The Florida freshman jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set before losing her serve in the fifth game. But that was the lone blemish, as she captured the final eight games to win her second straight match.
Diana Srebrovic (Oakville, Ontario) cruised past Elvira Serrot on the showcase court, 6-0, in the opening set, but Serrot came to life in the second by holding in the second game to get on the board. Srebrovic found herself down a break when Serrot took her serve in the fifth game, but the Gator junior broke right back and held to get the set back on-serve at 4-3. Srebrovic then earned her fifth break to take a 5-3 lead and finished off the win on her serve.
Megan Alexander (Dallas, Texas) kept the Gator fans in the stands a little longer, as she had a battle on court No. 2 with Kanza Belbacha. The first three games of the match were breaks, but Alexander ended the trend by holding in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. She held that advantage and was serving for the opening set, when Belbacha broke in the 10th game and held, forcing Alexander to hold for a tiebreaker, which she did. The Gator rookie took an early mini-break and jumped out to a 5-2 lead, before Belbacha roared back to win the next five points to take the first set.
The second set opened with both players holding serve then breaking each other before Alexander earned another break in the fifth game as she won the final four games to force a 10-point super-tiebreaker. Belbacha jumped out early and held a commanding 7-3 lead after breaking Alexander in the first of her two serves. That's when Alexander dug deep and began an improbable comeback, as she won the final seven points, four off Belbacha's serve, to earn the 6-7 (5), 6-2, 1-0 (10-7) victory.
“(Kanza Belbacha) started off really fast, but when I got down 7-3, I just told myself that I really wanted to win,” Alexander shared. “I knew I had to dig down and do whatever it took. After I won a couple points, I got it to 7-5, and decided that I was going to grind it out. I knew I could hit more balls. I really focused on getting my ball in and she started playing tentative.”
Women's College Tennis
No. 2 Florida vs. UCF
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Final Score: Florida 7, UCF 0
Doubles
No. 1 Whitney Benik/Nina Suvak (14), UF def. Elvira Serrot/Anna Yakimchenkova, UCF 8-0
No. 2 Megan Alexander/Diana Srebrovic, UF def. Kanza Belbacha/Megan Hunter, UCF 8-0
No. 3 Csilla Borsanyi/Lolita Frangulyan, UF def. Jennifer Carati/Becky Gordon, UCF 8-0*
Singles
No. 1 Diana Srebrovic (11), UF def. Elvira Serrot, UCF 6-0, 6-3
No. 2 Megan Alexander (95), UF def. Kanza Belbacha, UCF 6-7 (5), 6-2, 1-0 (10-7)
No. 3 Whitney Benik (78), UF def. Anna Yakimchenkova, UCF 6-0, 6-1
No. 4 Csilla Borsanyi, UF def. Megan Hunter, UCF 6-1, 6-0*
No. 5 Anastasia Revzina, UF def. Becky Gordon, UCF 6-1, 6-0
No. 6 Nina Suvak, UF def. Zoe Kent 6-0, 6-1
Order of Finish: Doubles 1, 3, 2; Singles 3, 6, 4, 5, 1, 2
*clinching doubles point/dual match win
END OF REPORT
