After the Florida men’s tennis team’s season officially ended last weekend in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship, several Gators received an opportunity on Wednesday to compete as individuals.
The UF trio of senior Diego Hidalgo, junior Elliott Orkin and freshman Alfredo Perez participated in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Men’s Singles Championship at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Two advanced to the next round.
Perez defeated Columbia’s Shawn Hadavi 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 to win his 36th singles match this season, and Orkin bested NC State’s Simon Norenius 7-5, 6-2 for his 30th singles win this season.
Hidalgo, however, struggled to gather a rhythm against South Florida’s Dominic Cotrone, falling to Cotrone 6-2, 6-4. The senior from Guayaquil, Ecuador, concluded his collegiate career with a 64-32 record in singles play.
Perez will face Wake Forest’s Petros Chrysochos and Orkin will face Virginia’s Ryan Shane today in the Round of 32.
While Hidalgo was eliminated from the singles tournament, he is also participating in the NCAA Men’s Doubles Championship, which begins today as well.
Hidalgo will compete with fellow senior Gordon Watson as the bracket’s No. 1 seed, facing Stanford’s Tom Fawcett and Maciek Romanowicz in the Round of 32.
Women’s Tennis
No. 4-ranked Brooke Austin, No. 11-ranked Belinda Woolcock and No. 40-ranked Kourtney Keegan each began play Wednesday in hopes of advancing through the NCAA Individual Championship.
Woolcock was the only UF athlete to win, fighting through two tiebreakers en route to a 8-6, 9-7 victory over Northwestern’s No. 52-ranked Maddie Lipp .
Keegan couldn't find her footing against Ohio State’s No. 3-ranked Francesca Di Lorenzo, as she lost 6-0, 7-5.
After a rain delay, Austin was upset 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 by Rice’s No. 104-ranked Katherine Ip.
Woolcock will play Alabama’s No. 23 Erin Routliffe in the second round today.
No. 3 Austin and Keegan will represent Florida in the doubles portion of the tournament in their first-round matchup against Syracuse’s No. 27 Gabriela Knutson and Valeria Salazar Garza today.
Contact Dylan Dixon at ddixon@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @dylanrdixon.
Contact Jake Dreilinger at jdreilinger@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @DreilingerJake.
Belinda Woolcock returns a ball during a ball during Florida's win against South Florida on Jan. 27 at the Ring Tennis Complex.
