In only his second collegiate tournament, Gordon Watson is making a strong impression.
After three days of hard-fought competition and not-so favorable weather, redshirt freshman Watson and the Florida men’s tennis team will be featured in both the singles and doubles finals of the Bedford Cup on Monday.
In singles play Florent Diep lost in Sunday's quarterfinals, while both Watson and Mike Alford advanced to face each other in the semifinals. In a tight match, Watson edged the junior Alford by a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
“Gordon is a really good athlete,” coach Bryan Shelton said. “His speed around the court is really a weapon, and his ability to play with a lot of variety makes him really tough to beat, especially on these courts.”
Watson's strong performance at such an early point of his career has Shelton excited about his future.
“He is a player,” Shelton said. “Some guys hit the ball well, some guys know how to play the game but Gordon is more of a player which makes it a lot more fun for us coaches to work with him.”
Watson will face off against North Florida’s Moritz Buerchner in the finals.
In doubles action, the tandem of Alford and Diep defeated their opponent by a score of 8-1.
Though the Gators are showing some positive signs this fall, Shelton knows that the team has room for improvement this season.
“I think the guys are working hard and competing hard,” Shelton said. “We’ve got to figure out something and how to do it better, but overall I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve been seeing. We just got to keep working; we have a lot of things to improve.”
The Gators can take the first step to improve on Monday when they play in the finals at 9 a.m.
