Entering the season ranked No. 11, the Florida men’s tennis team had high expectations for 2017.
However, the Gators also had big shoes to fill following key departures from the previous year.
Florida lost two seniors and important pieces of their 2016 SEC Championship team in All-American Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson.
In their final season, the duo combined for a singles record of 34-11, causing a large gap to be left behind not only in production, but in leadership as well.
Florida found that new leader this season in senior captain Elliott Orkin. Orkin delivered in big spots for the Gators throughout the year.
While the senior struggled early on in the season, posting a 4-4 record at the No. 3 spot in the lineup, he was able to step up when his team needed him most.
After moving up to the No. 2 spot, Orkin posted a 9-5 for the Gators, often competing against players ranked higher than him. His performance earned him 2017 First-Team All-SEC honors.
Florida also found a replacement for the vacant No.1 spot in the lineup left behind by Hidalgo: sophomore Alfredo Perez.
Perez was expected to have a good season, but his caliber of play reached such a high level, it thrusted him into the nation’s top 10 players and a First-Team All-SEC status.
The Havana, Cuba, native busted onto every team’s radar early in the season after defeating USC’s Logan Smith and UCLA’s Gage Brymer in two huge Florida victories. Smith and Brymer were ranked 28th and 11th at the time, respectively, and the wins vaulted Perez into the top 10.
Two weeks later, Perez took down No. 5 Christian Sigsgaard of Texas and No. 4 Nuno Borges of Mississippi State to add to his repertoire of big victories, punching himself a spot in the NCAA Individual Championships as the country’s No. 8 player.
With Orkin as its captain and Perez in the No. 1 spot, Florida played one of the nation’s toughest schedules, experiencing an up and down season of tests and triumphs.
Along with their always-difficult SEC schedule, the Gators played a February gauntlet that featured seven top-20 teams, four of which were ranked in the top-10 including then-No. 1 Virginia.
After going 3-4 in February, Florida experienced two tough losses to start off March against Texas A&M and Florida State.
However, the Gators were able to bounce back, going 8-2 over the remainder of the season, only suffering losses to No. 24 Kentucky and No. 13 Georgia.
The postseason saw the Gators go to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, only to lose to familiar foes Georgia and Virginia.
And even though the Gators will lose Orkin and senior Maxx Lipman, they feature one of the nation’s top recruiting classes and retain plenty of upperclassmen leadership to make a strong 2018 campaign.
Contact Mark Stine at mstine@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @mstinejr.
Elliott Orkin prepares to hit a forehand during Florida’s 4-2 win against UCLA on Feb. 5, 2017, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
