Gordon Watson couldn’t end the Gators’ doubles curse this season.
After losing the first set in singles, Watson took the second set to force a third and eventually a deciding-match scenario.
Watson fell behind early in the third set, and was within a point from tying it up with Mississippi State’s Pedro Dumont throughout the match. But Dumont held on to capture the victory for the Bulldogs.
Doubles remains an indicator of how Florida will do in its matches, and Sunday’s doubles point did not bode well for the Gators.
The No. 17 Gators (11-9, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) fell to No. 13 Mississippi State (15-7, 5-5 SEC) 4-3 in a nail-biter.
Doubles has been the biggest toss-up for Florida this season. In some matches, its tandems look dominant, while in other matches, they don’t have enough to overpower teams.
Early in singles play, UF looked like it was going to break the doubles curse. In a six-minute span, Mike Alford, Bob van Overbeek and Florent Diep each won their singles matches.
Florida’s three singles wins put them one victory away from clinching the match. The Gators just needed one victory from Stephane Piro, Luke Johnson or Watson.
Up 3-1, none of them could get the job done.
Piro lost in straight sets at the No. 1 position. He has not won in that position since taking over March 29 against LSU. It was now down to the freshmen to get a much-needed SEC victory.
Johnson has been solid for the Gators at the bottom of the lineup, but he couldn’t battle back enough. Johnson won a tiebreaker in the second set to force a third, but he was blanked in the third set, 6-0.
Watson’s match lasted more than three hours, but he didn’t have the energy to get the victory for the Gators, falling 6-4 in the final set.
Florida will now look to bounce back after a midweek battle with Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday.
Junior Florent Diep strikes the ball during Florida’s 5-2 victory against Miami on Jan. 19 at Linder Stadium.
