Two Gators advanced to their respective finals draws taking place today after a weekend of play at the Ring Tennis Complex.
The men’s tennis team hosted the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships with nine Gators competing in the tournament.
Senior Diego Hidalgo will be playing in the singles finals of the tournament today against No.1-seeded Roberto Cid from USF.
Hidalgo and senior Gordon Watson will also be competing in the doubles main draw semifinals today.
Hidalgo beat Georgia Tech’s Christopher Eubanks in a three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, to move on to the semifinals.
In the semifinals Hidalgo faced off against teammate sophomore Chase Perez-Blanco with Hidalgo coming out victorious 6-2, 6-1.
Hidalgo and Watson defeated Eubanks and Nathan Rakitt of Georgia Tech 8-5 in the quarterfinals.
The doubles duo will play in the semifinals today to determine who moves on to the finals.
They will be up against the No.1 ranked doubles team in the country in Georgia’s Ben Wagland and Austin Smith.
Senior Elliott Orkin took down Smith, 3-6, 6-4, 2-0, in the quarterfinals Sunday. The match ended with a default by Smith in the third set of the match.
Orkin would then play Cid in a hard fought semifinals match. Orkin was defeated 7-6, 6-2.
Cid will face Hidalgo in the finals of the singles main draw. Hidalgo will be the fourth UF player Cid will see in the tournament.
In the second day of play freshman Alfredo Perez defeated Florida Atlantic’s Anthony Schohn 7-5, 6-2. Cid defeated Perez 6-2, 7-6 in the round of 32.
Perez would come back in the second set and force a tiebreak out of Cid, but eventually Perez would fall.
The Gators will continue finals and semifinals play today at the Ring Tennis Complex before moving on to the Southeastern Conference Fall Event in Auburn, Alabama this Friday.
Follow Madison Belfour on Twitter @madisonbel4
UF senior Diego Hidalgo hits an open-stance forehand during the singles semifinals of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships on Oct. 18, 2015, at the Ring Tennis Complex
