Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
<p>The Gators' men's tennis team topped Georgia 5-2. Sophomore Andy Andrade (pictured) clinched the match&nbsp;<span id="docs-internal-guid-5b00fdb1-7fff-79a2-89c5-576011439ad9"><span>with a three-set win over Georgia's No. 10 Jan Zielinski.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

The Gators' men's tennis team topped Georgia 5-2. Sophomore Andy Andrade (pictured) clinched the match with a three-set win over Georgia's No. 10 Jan Zielinski. 

The Gators men’s tennis team is about to face arguably its toughest remaining regular-season test.

The good news for them is it’s a team they’ve already beaten.

No. 4 Florida will host No. 13 Illinois on Wednesday at the Ring Tennis Complex. The match will start at 5 p.m. Illinois is currently the highest ranked opponent that UF will play for the rest of the season. The Gators defeated the Fighting Illini 4-1 at the ITA National Team Championships in Chicago on Feb. 16. At the time of their match last month, Florida was ranked No. 4 and Illinois was ranked No. 14.

Since that match, both teams have trended in different directions. The Gators (12-2) lost their next match against Stanford but have since gone on a six-game winning streak and started 5-0 in SEC play, their best start in nine years. Each of Florida’s last four wins came against teams ranked in the top 30, including its last two home wins in No. 10 Mississippi State and No. 2 Wake Forest. Florida also made a big jump in the recent ITA rankings, going from No. 8 to No. 4.

The Illini (7-5) lost their next two matches after their loss to the Gators, to then-No. 7 Baylor and No. 12 TCU. It has won its last two matches over Big Ten foes Northwestern and Indiana. Both of those schools are unranked. All five of Illinois’ losses came to teams ranked in the top 15.

Illinois has two players ranked in the top 35 of singles, No. 14 Aleksander Kovacevic and No. 31 Alex Brown. Kovacevic is the only player to get a point in the match last month, beating sophomore Oliver Crawford in two sets. Brown lost a tight three-set match to freshman Sam Riffice. Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi make up the Illini’s only ranked doubles team, coming in at No. 45.

UF will counter with four players ranked in singles, it is only one of two SEC schools to hold that distinction. Leading the pack is No. 15 Crawford, who made a big jump after beating No. 2 Petros Chrysochos of Wake Forest last Wednesday. Florida also has sophomore No. 29 Andy Andrade, No. 51 Riffice, and junior No. 97 Johannes Ingildsen. The Gators also have three ranked doubles pairs, which lead the SEC. They are No. 17 Crawford and Andrade, No. 19 Ingildsen and sophomore Brian Berdusco, and No. 32 Andrade and Riffice.

Florida will return to their SEC schedule on Thursday when they face No. 28 Vanderbilt (13-4). The match will also be at the Ring Tennis Complex and begin at 5 p.m. This will be UF’s only matchup with the Commodores this season. Vandy was picked to finish eighth in the conference while Florida was picked to win it. The Commodores current head coach, Ian Duvenhage, coached Florida from 1989-2001, compiling a record of 221-126.

Vanderbilt is off to a 3-2 start in SEC play. It beat Ole Miss, Auburn, and Arkansas with the wins over Ole Miss and Arkansas coming on the road. Vandy  lost to Mississippi State and Alabama and is 1-2 against ranked opponents this season.

The Commodores have one ranked singles player, No. 89 Cameron Klinger and two ranked doubles combos, No. 71 Klinger and Maxwell Freeman and No. 80 Klinger and Billy Rowe.

The Gators last time out against Vanderbilt was April 17, 2018, at the SEC Championships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Florida won that match 4-1.

Follow Noah Ram on Twitter @noah_ram1 and contact him at nram@alligator.org.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox

Sophomore No. 29 Andy Andrade is one of Florida's four ranked singles players.

Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.

Noah Ram

Noah is a third year journalism-sports and media student from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has been with The Alligator since Spring 2019 and has covered men’s and women’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. When he isn’t on his beat, Noah is usually sadden over his beloved South Florida sports teams, such as the Heat and Dolphins.


Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.