Florida didn’t let rain affect their performance on the tennis court.
The men’s tennis team competed in the first day of the 2012 Bedford Cup on Sunday. For coach Bryan Shelton and the Gators, the opening action was a successful one.
Florida’s doubles tandem of juniors Mike Alford and Florent Diep defeated Florida State’s Jordan Kelly-Houston and Michael Rinaldi to move on to the quarterfinals after having a bye in the first round.
In singles play, Gordon Watson, Alford and Diep all advanced to the second round in straight-sets.
Shelton credits the success of his players to their preparation leading up to the Bedford Cup.
“The guys before going out on the court did a good job establishing a game plan,” Shelton said, “and I thought they went out there and executed it for the most part today in our doubles matches and singles as well.”
Although, Florida won five of seven matches, freshman Luke Johnson lost in two sets in the first round of singles, and the doubles team of Bob van Overbeek and Gordon Watson fell in the second round 8-5.
Shelton felt these losses were due to a lack of concentration in returning serve.
“I felt like some of the doubles matches today we just made too many return errors,” Shelton said. “We have the right idea, but we just got to practice more and work on hitting targets on practice so we will be able to consistently put the ball into play.”
The weather delayed the tournament twice, once for 10 minutes and another for 45 minutes. During the latter, play was stopped when Watson was dominating.
As a redshirt-freshman, it’s easy for outside factors to get in one’s head, but Shelton knew he could handle it.
“When you have the momentum that Gordon had, I think the rain is a welcome thing for his opponent,” Shelton said. “Gordon’s got a lot of confidence. His confidence seems to be growing everyday, so I expect him to go out there and understand what was working and what was effective.”
Play will resume Saturday at 9 a.m. at Linder Stadium and continue through Monday.
“It’s always good to see our guys compete,” Shelton said.
