Match Details
No. 57 Central Florida 4, No. 53 South Florida 3
South Florida (12-11), Central Florida (8-11)
Friday, April 7, 2023 | 1 p.m.
Tampa, Fla. | USF Varsity Tennis Courts
 
TAMPA (April 7, 2023) – The No. 53-ranked University of South Florida men's tennis team fell to No. 53 Central Florida on Friday, 4-3, in the War on I-4 at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.
 
The loss drops South Florida to 12-11 on the year while the Knights improve to 8-11.
 
The Bulls closed out Central Florida to earn the doubles point in three epic matches. South Florida's Bruno Oliveira and Davide Tortora pulled out court two, 6-3, to give the Green and Gold the advantage early and left the point teetering on courts one and two while going nearly point for point.
 
The Bulls' Thomas Pavlekovich-Smith and Samuel Frizelle fell behind on court three, 4-5 and 15-40, however, battled their way back to force a tiebreaker. One court over, Erik Grevelius and Alvin Tudorica pushed their match to a breaker at the same time. Both matches came down to match point at 7-6 but it was Pavlekovich-Smith and Frizelle that pulled out the win seconds before court one, 7-6 (8-6), to give South Florida the advantage in the dual.
 
Central Florida got back on track in the singles portion of the dual winning on courts two (6-3, 6-0), three (6-4, 6-2) and one (6-2, 6-4), respectively, to take what looked like a commanding 3-1 lead, one point from a win.
 
South Florida, however, clawed its way back to even the dual up at three-all as Elijah Cham won court five, 6-4, 6-3 and Pavlekovich-Smith pulled out a thrilling 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) gut-check win on court six leaving the dual up to Oliveira on court four.
 
Oliveira dropped a first-set heartbreaker, 6-7 (4-7) but battled back to take the second set, 6-4. In the third set, Oliveira fell behind 1-3 but won four out of the next five points to take a 5-4 lead. The third came down to another hard-fought tiebreaker. The Brazilian native was down early in the breaker but came back to tie it at four points apiece only to fall in the end, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-7 (6-8).
 
Doubles
1. Erik Grevelius/Alvin Tudorica (USFM) def. #26 Lleyton Cronje/Bogdan Pavel (UCF) 7-6 (8-6)
2. Bruno Oliveira/Davide Tortora (USFM) def. Yassine Dlimi/Francisco Llanes (UCF) 6-3
3. Thomas Pavlekovich-Smith/Samuel Frizelle (USFM) def. Paul Colin/Liam Branger (UCF) 7-6 (8-6)
 
Singles
1. #98 Bogdan Pavel (UCF) def. #118 Davide Tortora (USF) 6-2, 6-4
2. Lleyton Cronje (UCF) def. Erik Grevelius (USF) 6-3, 6-0
3. Yassine Dlimi (UCF) def. Alvin Tudorica (USF) 6-4, 6-2
4. #115 Liam Branger (UCF) def. Bruno Oliveira (USF) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6)
5. Elijah Cham (USF) def. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) 6-4, 6-3
6. Thomas Pavlekovich-Smith (USF) def. Francisco Llanes (UCF) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,3,1,5,6,4)
 
Up Next
The Bulls close out their 2023 regular season schedule on Friday, April 14 at 1:30 p.m. when they face Tulsa at the USTA National Tennis Campus in Orlando.
 
South Florida returns to the USTA National Tennis Campus for the American Athletic Conference Championships, April 21-23.  
 
About Men's Tennis
Be sure to follow USF men's tennis on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.?Head coach?Ashley Fisher?is in his seventh year at the helm of the program for the 2022-23 season.