The Florida men’s tennis team had its season come to an end after its last two doubles teams lost in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships on Saturday. Even with the disappointing finish, the Gators’ 2018 campaign was full of excitement.
Florida ended the season with an overall record of 19-10 and a 9-3 conference record, which was third-best in the SEC.
UF opened the 2018 spring season with high expectations and was ranked No. 9 in the nation. The season began at home on Jan. 22 against UCF. The Gators dominated 6-1 with strong performances in singles on the top two positions to move to a 17-0 all-time record against the Knights.
After a successful ITA Kick-Off Weekend where the team swept South Alabama and USF, the Gators went on the road. On its first road trip, Florida was met with its first challenges.
The rivalry matchup between Florida and Florida State in Orlando, Florida, was tied at 3-3 with all eyes on Court 2 and freshman Oliver Crawford. He lost in straight sets to the Seminoles’ Lucas Poullain in a 7-6, 7-6 duel.
Coach Bryan Shelton later pointed to this defeat as Crawford’s motivation to later produce one of the most successful seasons by a freshman in the program’s history.
UF split its next two matches, beating Michigan 4-2 on Feb. 9 but losing to then-No. 2 Ohio State 6-3 on Feb. 11.
Five days later, the team traveled to Seattle, Washington, for the National Team Indoor Championships to face top competition. Florida played three top-25 teams, which included two ranked doubles teams and seven ranked singles players. It was humbled after getting swept 4-0 by Texas A&M and Illinois but had a promising win against a tough Notre Dame team. Shelton regarded this tournament — and the lessons that came with it — as the turning point of the season.
Florida entered SEC play with a 5-4 record with a difficult schedule ahead.
Its first conference opponent was Georgia, which came into the Ring Tennis Complex ranked No. 17 in the nation on March 2. For the second time during the season, it came down to Crawford - this time on Court 4.
On the cold, windy night, the freshman upset then-No. 28 Jan Zielinski in a dramatic third set that brought tears to his eyes and an emotional hug from his coach.
“We knew he had it in him,” Shelton said after the match. “After Florida State, I told him ‘you’ll be back in this situation, and I know you’ll get it done.’”
Crawford’s breakout performance was the beginning of a 12-match win streak in singles that lasted six weeks. The doubles team of junior Alfredo Perez and sophomore Johannes Ingildsen also began to impress. The duo gained the No. 1 rank in the nation after the Indoor Championships and held it for the next six weeks.
Even with all of their talent, the Gators could not get into a rhythm. After a dominant 6-1 win over Tennessee, they were upset by Mississippi State 5-2 on March 9 and by TCU 4-3 just two matches later.
In perhaps the highlight of the season, Florida upset No. 1 Wake Forest 4-3. The win came on the back of clutch singles play by junior and team captain McClain Kessler, who shut out his opponent to give Crawford the match point.
Despite the big win, the team could not finish strong, losing two of the next four matches to close out the regular season and clinch the third seed in the SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
In the tournament, the Gators quickly dealt with Vanderbilt 4-1 before facing Mississippi State once more. The then-No. 9 Bulldogs again beat them 4-2 to end their hopes of raising the SEC trophy.
In the NCAA Tournament, UF advanced through the first two rounds by sweeping South Carolina State and Miami. On May 18, it met conference opponent Ole Miss for the second time of the season.
While the Rebels initially put Florida on its heels by winning the doubles point, Kessler once again closed it out and helped his team advance to the quarterfinals for the second time in four years.
Texas A&M awaited UF in the next round. The Aggies had beaten Florida twice in the season: previously in the Indoor Championships and then in SEC play in a close 4-3 match on April 6. Florida once again struggled in doubles and lost the match 4-3 to get bounced from the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators ended the dual-play season ranked 13th in the ITA rankings. Crawford’s win streak in singles and strong play in doubles earned him the Rookie of the Year award in the Southeast Region, a First-Team All-SEC selection and an SEC All-Freshman Team honor.
Florida saw three singles players and two doubles teams enter the Individual Singles and Doubles Championships. There, both the Perez and Ingildsen duo as well as the Kessler and Vale team earned All-American honors for advancing to the quarterfinals of the contest. Perez also earned another All-American honor for advancing to the round of 16 in the singles event.
Florida will return in 2019 with the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation which includes blue-chips Lukas Greif and Sam Riffice.
Shelton will look to build on this team’s successes while fixing the problems that resulted in it falling short in 2018.
Dylan Rudolph is a sports writer. Follow him on Twitter @dyrudolph and contact him at drudolph@alligator.org.
UF men's tennis coach Bryan Shelton joins his team after its Senior Day match with Alabama on April 13. The Gators went 19-10 on the season and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
