Florida State men's tennis making an impact across the country

Florida State men's tennis - past and present - has reason to celebrate.

Over consecutive weekends last month in Tallahassee, junior Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc earned a bid to the ITA Fall Championships in California and former Seminole Alex Knaff won his first professional singles title at a place he calls his second home.

Both players have embraced their journeys.

Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc watched, learned and listened last year as he sat out due to NCAA graduation rules. He also focused on improving his skills and conditioning during training.

While Cornut-Chauvinc, a native of France, admitted it was difficult not being on the court with his Seminole teammates, he's certainly making an impact this season.

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Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc on a roll

Cornut-Chauvinc  advanced to the semifinals at the ITA Fall Championships in San Diego last week. The powerful, 6-foot-2 righthander won three matches before falling in three sets (6-2, 1-6, 6-2) to No. 3 seed Nishesh Basavareddy from Stanford.

Cornut-Chauvinc qualified for the ITA Fall Championships by advancing to the singles final in the ITA Southeast Regional Championships last month at FSU's Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Center.

Two weeks earlier, he advanced to the singles Round of 16 in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"I think he's as good as anyone in the country," FSU coach Dwayne Hutlquist said. "He has a big serve, big forehand, and moves very well for his size. He really enjoys the process of playing."

It shows, too.

Cornut-Chauvinc has beaten six ranked opponents and posted a 13-3 record in singles this fall. All three losses were to the eventual champion of each tournament.

Cornut-Chauvinc, who has come through the French Federation and has he highest Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) of any recruit signing with a collegiate program in 2021, says he's continuing to learn collegiate tennis. He relies on his big serve and pressuring opponents.

"You are not just winning for you, you are winning for the team," Cornut-Chauvinc said. "The approach to matches is different but it's pretty exciting. I really love the FSU campus, it's beautiful. It (college) is a big change in your daily life, but I am really enjoying it."

Alex Knaff embraces return to FSU

Knaff, meanwhile, won his first professional singles title at the M15 Tallahassee professional tournament. The event was hosted at FSU’s Indoor Tennis Facility and Knaff became the first Seminole to win the tourney.

"It was really exciting and I was proud to win my first pro title at a place I consider my second home," Knaff said. "Seeing the growth and hard work eventually pay off, it's nice to get rewarded."

Knaff, a 6-foot-4 right-hander, cruised through the first two rounds.

He earned straight-set victories over Kosuke Ogura and Marcus McDaniel, followed by a win over his tournament doubles partner and fellow Seminole, Cornut-Chauvinc, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Knaff beat Georgia's Philip Henning in a tiebreak to advance to the final.

Knaff, 24, secured the title with a straight-set victory, winning 6-3, 6-0, against William Grant.

While at FSU, Knaff - a native of his native Luxembourg - went 56-45 in singles and 56-37 in doubles and was named to the All-ACC Second Team in 2019.  Since entering the professional stage, Knaff has won three doubles titles and represented Luxembourg at the Davis Cup.

"Tennis is a game of such small margins," Knaff said.

"Looking at the stats (from the M15 Tallahassee tourney), other players actually won more points than me. Those kind of things show it's so tight sometimes and the details - the mental side, physical preparation.

"It was great to be back in Tallahassee. I had a good amount of support that pushed me. I felt a little nervousness at the start because I wanted to do so well. It was great to be back and seeing everyone. It felt like I had just got there (for college), what happened?

"It goes so quickly."

Reach Jim Henry at jjhenry@tallahassee.com.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State men's tennis shows it's one of best teams in NCAA