It may have been early on a Saturday, but the Gators came out energized.
Hosting the ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament, a two-day event whose winner will compete in the ITA Indoor Championships next month in Seattle, No. 12 Florida overpowered St. John's 7-0 to advance to Sunday’s final against the winner of UNC-Wilmington and South Alabama.
Florida was able to assert its dominance over the Storm and win every match. UF won both doubles matches and all six singles matches. Each singles match only went two sets.
“I was impressed with our guys today,” coach Bryan Shelton said. “We played extremely well at No. 1 doubles — just very solid.
The senior-freshman, No. 1 doubles duo of Billy Federhofer and Gordon Watson set the pace for the Gators. They defeated the No. 52 doubles pair Vasko Mladenov and Hugo Morth in only 30 minutes giving the Gators its first doubles victory.
“Playing with Gordon is fun because he loves doubles and is really aggressive at the net,” Federhofer said. “We complement each other pretty well.”
Stephane Piro and Bob van Overbeek sealed the doubles point for the Gators six minutes later in an 8-3 victory. Florent Diep and Luke Johnson led 5-4 when the doubles point was clinched.
Florida came out firing in singles play as well. All six Gators won their first game, setting the tone for their matches.
No. 1 singles between Diep and Mladenov was halted in the first set, however, when Mladenov retired due to a leg injury. Florida took the point to go up 2-0.
With match point at 40-15, freshman Luke Johnson dropped a volley over Michael John-Every’s side of the net, giving Florida its second singles point.
At No. 5 singles, Federhofer seized the victory for Florida, defeating Mark Mozer 6-2, 6-0.
“That was my first [clinching match] this year,” Federhofer said. “I love doing that, but I just want the team to win. It’s nice that I was fortunate enough to be able to, but as long as we win, I don’t care who clinches.
The Gators have now won two back-to-back 7-0 victories, but coach Shelton says there is still work to do, even though these wins are confidence boosters.
“Tomorrow we know we’re going to be pushed with whatever team wins [this afternoon], South Alabama or UNCW,” he said. “We’ve got to be ready. We know it’s coming. We’re not going to just coast through the whole season.”
Florida redshirt freshman Gordon Watson hits a ball during the Bedford Cup on Sept. 15, 2012, at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
