Jordan Belga stood on the baseline awaiting his opponent’s serve during the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Belga just went up two breaks on his opponent, Texas’ Rodrigo Banzer, to hold a 5-2 third set advantage. Winning the match would even up the team score at 3-3 and give freshman standout Johannes Ingildsen an opportunity to seize the win for Florida.
Belga’s lead came crashing to the floor. The junior from Boca Raton allowed Banzer back into the match, conceding the match point in a tiebreak.
“After the loss against Texas he really took it hard,” UF coach Bryan Shelton said. “But his guys had his back. You could tell in the meeting that they totally supported him and valued him, which basically lifted him back up.”
Fast-forward a day later to UF’s match against SEC foe Mississippi State on the same court. Belga was again in a hard-fought tiebreak, this time against MSU’s Trevor Foshey. Belga had the opportunity to clinch the match for his team. This time he didn’t disappoint.
“A lot of people would crumble the next day if they had the (same) opportunity,” Shelton said. “To be able to come back the next day and step up for his team, I think that’s just a testament to who he is as a person and a player and (shows) the depth of his character.”
This example from the No. 10 Gators’ last tournament reveals a lot about the character and attitude of this team, and it certainly shows the mentality and togetherness that Florida must play with if it wants to defeat the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes when the two sides face off on Sunday.
The Buckeyes feature a lineup with two top-ranked singles players in the latest Oracle ITA rankings with Danish Mikael Torpegaard rising to one and Canadian Hugo di Feo moving up to third in the country.
However, Florida has a top player of its own in No. 6 Alfredo Perez.
Perez is coming off his first loss of the season in the Gators’ team loss to Oklahoma on Sunday.
Since the loss, Perez has expressed a strong will to return to work and get better to his coach and teammates.
“I think those are great responses. When you don’t get what you want, you get off your butt and you get back to work,” Shelton said. “That’s what you want, especially out of your number one guy and number one doubles team. You want them to lead by example.”
Contact Mark Stine at mstine@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @mstinejr.
UF coach Bryan Shelton talks with freshman Johannes Ingildsen during Florida's 4-2 win against UCLA on Feb. 5, 2017, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
