Hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the UF men’s tennis team defeated both of its opponents in convincing fashion.
Tournament play started on Friday as the Gators squared off with Florida Gulf Coast for the first time in school history.
Florida captured a quick win on the doubles court via the senior tandem of Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin, who closed their opponents out by a tally of 6-1, while the pairing of Joshua Wardell and Chase Perez-Blanco clinched the doubles point for their team, winning 6-3.
The Gators continued to hold the upper hand over the Eagles in singles play. They took control by winning five of the six first sets and never looked back.
Sophomore Alfredo Perez was the first Gator to close out his singles match, defeating the Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year, Felipe Ramirez, 6-1, 6-2.
It wasn’t long after that when McClain Kessler captured the Gators’ second singles win, putting his team a point away from securing the victory.
And before FGCU was able to build any momentum, Perez-Blanco closed out his match with FGCU’s Ezequiel Cerrini, 6-4, 6-2, to clinch the match for UF.
“I was really pleased with how we competed,” Florida coach Bryan Shelton said in a release. “I felt like on every court we were playing better as the match went along, so that’s always good to see.”
A day removed from their victory over the Eagles, Shelton’s team was tasked with facing his alma mater, Georgia Tech.
The Gators came out firing once again, capturing the doubles point with the help of the Lipman-Orkin duo and the nation’s No. 2 pairing of Perez and freshman Johannes Ingildsen.
In his last home match as a Gator, Orkin was able to captain his team to victory in singles. Orkin defeated the Yellow Jackets’ Andrew Li in two quick sets, 6-2, 6-2.
Perez-Blanco came up big for his team yet again, as he is the only UF player to have won both of his singles matches in this year’s tournament, not dropping a set in the process. The junior was able to squeak out the first set over Carlos Benito, 6-4, before pulling away from Benito in a 6-1 second set.
Ingildsen was tasked with securing the sweep for the Gators in a matchup with Tech’s Daniel Yun, and the freshman delivered. The Copenhagen, Denmark, native took the first set 6-1 and was able to keep his composure in a hard-fought second set, winning 7-5.
Florida will compete in the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row and will travel to Athens, Georgia, to take on a familiar foe in No. 2 Virginia.
The Gators will look to avenge a 5-2 loss that was suffered at the hands of the Cavaliers in February.
Contact Mark Stine at mstine@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @mstinejr.
Junior McClain Kessler clinched the Round of 16 match for Florida over Ole Miss on Friday night, sending the Gators to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
