After last weekend, the Florida men’s tennis team made it clear that a ranking is just a number.
The Gators — ranked No. 17 in the country at the time — pulled off an upset to defeat then-No. 4 UCLA 4-3, with redshirt freshman Oliver Landert clinching the match.
"(Last weekend) they played at a very high level and we’ve got to continue that moving forward," coach Bryan Shelton said.
No. 14 Florida (4-2) looks to ride the momentum of that win when it plays No. 32 Florida State (7-1) at 5 p.m. in Tallahassee.
The Gators own a 55-20 all-time series advantage against the Seminoles and have not dropped a dual meet to Florida State since Feb. 17, 2007.
If UF wants to keep the 14-match win streak against FSU alive, Shelton said he will need to rely on his veteran players — namely juniors Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson — to make some big plays.
"Diego and Gordon are an excellent doubles team. They’re leading us at the No. 1 position," Shelton said. "We feel like they could be one of the most dominant teams in the country, but our No. 2 and No. 3 teams right now are not very far behind."
Through six matches this season, Hidalgo remains undefeated in singles play.
The Guayaquil, Ecuador, native defeated a ranked opponent — No. 8 Jonny Wang of USC in Florida’s 5-2 loss to the No. 1 team in the country — for his first time in his collegiate dual match singles career.
Shelton agrees that the 5-foot-11 junior is one of the stronger players on the team, and he’s looking forward to what Hidalgo has to bring on the court this season.
"It’s certainly still very early in the season," Shelton said. "We’ll just continue to work to try and get better. We’ve got a really tough opponent coming up on Friday night in Tallahassee."
Follow Caylee Underwood on Twitter @CayUnderwood
Gordon Watson (right) high fives teammate Diego Hidalgo (left) during a doubles match in Florida's 9-3 win against William & Mary on Friday at the Ring Tennis Complex.
