Feb. 22, 2009
Gainesville, Fla... – The No. 24 University of Miami men’s tennis team dropped its third match of the season, falling to No. 11 Florida, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
“UF was ready for us today and they deserve all the credit,” said Miami head coach Mario Rincon, whose Hurricanes fell to 4-3. “But we have identified things that we need to do better as a team that will give us a chance against the best teams in the country. We will continue to work hard and improve.”
The Gators, who won their second-straight match to improve to 8-3, jumped out to the early 1-0 lead after sweeping the doubles matches. Miami All-American duo Daniel Vallverdu and Carl Sundberg saw their first action together of the season, but fell to UF’s 23rd-ranked tandem of Joey Burkhardt and Antoine Benneteau, 8-2, who were playing their ninth match of the season together.
Florida also came out strong in singles play, using straight sets wins at Nos. 6, 1, 2 and 3 to clinch the match.
However, the Hurricanes managed a pair of wins, as Sundberg – ranked 78th in the singles rankings – improved to 6-0 in dual match play with a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5) defeat of Johnny Hamui at No. 5. Junior transfer David Simon won his fourth-straight match to improved to 5-2 in dual matches with a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6) win over Burkhardt at No. 4.
“Carl and David were able to get important wins that will only build their confidence,” added Rincon.
The Hurricanes return to ACC play at No. 16 Florida State on Sat., Feb. 28 at 1 p.m.
No. 11 Florida 5, No. 24 Miami 2
Singles
No. 1 (24) Carlos Cueto (UF) def. Christian Bloecker (Miami), 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 (21) Alex Lacroix (UF) def. David Rosenfeld (Miami), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 (94) Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Ignacio Toboada (Miami), 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 David Simon (Miami) def. (64) Joey Burkhardt (UF), 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
No. 5 (78) Carl Sundberg def. (85) Johnny Hamui (UF), 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)
No. 6 Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Keith Crowley (Miami), 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 (23) Benneteau/Burkhardt (UF) def. Vallverdu/Sundberg (Miami), 8-2
No. 2 Dadamo/Hamui (UF) def. Simon/Bloecker (Miami), 9-7
No. 3 Cueto/Lacroix (UF) def. Crowley/Rosenfeld (Miami), 9-7
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 3*, 2); Singles (6, 1, 2, 3*, 4, 5)