One Gator made it to the semifinals in the 2014 USTA Collegiate Clay Court Invitational at Walt Disney World this weekend.
Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco dropped to No. 1-seed Clemson’s Hunter Harrington (5-7, 6-3, 6-4), though winning his first set in Saturday’s semifinals match.
Perez-Blanco defeated fellow Gator and No. 5 seed junior Diego Hidalgo (1-6, 6-4, 6-4), stopping Hidalgo in the quarterfinals earlier Saturday morning.
The other two Gators, senior Richard Brej and freshman Jordan Belga, fell short Friday morning in the tournament.
Brej dropped straight sets in the second round to Clemson’s Harrington ( 6-4, 6-0) but won in singles consolation Friday to Auburn University’s Petar Tomic 6-3, 6-4.
Belga lost Round 1 Thursday to Florida State University’s Marco Nunez, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. In singles consolations, he lost to Virginia Tech’s Florian Nicoud, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
The Gators tandem Belga and Perez-Blanco fared well in the "A" doubles. The pair dropped in the semifinals Saturday to Florida State University’s Lock and Marco Nunez, 6-0, 6-4.
The Hidalgo and Brej tandem in "B" doubles dropped in the second round to University of Southern California’s Rob Bellamy and Eric Johnson Friday, 8-5.
Though less than half of the Gators headed south to represent their No. 23 ranked team, only 13 schools competed last weekend in the smaller-scale tournament.
Ranked No. 37 Florida State University hosted the third annual tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Following UF and FSU, is No. 55 Miami and No. 69 Central Florida.
Earlier in the tournament: Perez-Blanco defeated University of Miami’s Wilfredo Gonzalez, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in Round 1 and Georgia Tech’s Carlos Benito in Round 2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 on Friday.
Friday he won two of three sets to Florida State University’s No. 4-seed Benjamin Lock, 3-6,6-3,6-1
Hidalgo defeated University of South Alabama’s Juan Troglia in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. The Ecuador native won on Friday against Penn State’s Matt Barry, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(4). Friday Hidalgo defeated Auburn’s Marko Krickovic (6-4, 6-3) before dropping to Perez-Blanco in quarterfinals.
Brej defeated Virginia Tech’s George Cartledge after dropping second set in Round 2 on Thursday, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-1.
Belga was unable to win any matches in the tournament this weekend. He fell to Florida State University’s Marco Nunez in round one Thursday, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Follow Mary Francis on Twitter @_maryfrancis
UF men's tennis coach Bryan Shelton walks on the Ring Tennis Complex courts prior to Florida's 5-2 win against North Florida on Jan. 22
Coach Roland Thornqvist looks down the courts of the Ring Tennis Complex during Florida's 4-0 win against Louisville on Aug. 25.
