For the second time this season the Florida men’s tennis team is in two places at once.
Freshman Sam Riffice and sophomore Oliver Crawford have been competing in the USA F28 Futures in Harlingen, Texas, while the rest of the team begins play this weekend at the ITA Regional Championships in Athens, Georgia.
The U.S.A. F28 Futures began Tuesday with Riffice competing in the main singles draw against Jack Findel-Hawkins (Great Britain). He fell in two sets (4-6, 2-6) and was eliminated in the first round.
Crawford matched up against Jonathan Chang (U.S.A.) in the first round of the singles main draw and moved on with a two set win (6-1, 6-2). He defeated Ronnie Schneider (U.S.A.) in the second round (6-3, 6-3) and advanced to the quarterfinals against Maxime Creasy (France) which will be held today at 11 a.m.
Riffice and Crawford teamed up in the doubles main draw on Thursday against Trent Bryde (U.S.A) and Patrick Kypson (U.S.A.) with the Gators coming out on top in two sets (6-3, 6-2). In the quarterfinals Riffice and Crawford fell to Maxime Cressy and Nicolas Meister (U.S.A.) (2-6, 1-6) and were eliminated.
The rest of the Gators team will kick off the ITA Regional Championships this weekend. Freshman Greysen Cacciatore will play in the qualifying singles draw while freshman Lukas Greif, sophomores Duarte Vale, Andy Andrade and Brian Berdusco, junior Johannes Ingildsen and senior McClain Kessler will compete in the main draw for singles.
Cacciatore will play Stephen Madonia (Miami) Friday at 11 a.m. Berdusco will play against Alex Knauff (Florida State) Saturday at 8:30 a.m. At 10:30, Vale will play Felipe Escobar (Florida Gulf Coast), and Kessler will play Antoine Sanchez (Stetson). Greif faces off with Alan Rubio (Central Florida) at 11:30, and Andrade battles Blake Croyder (Georgia) at 12:30. Ingildsen plays last for UF against the qualifying singles finalist.
UF also has three duos in the main-doubles draw, which will take place after singles. The teams are Andrade and Greif, Berdusco and Ingildsen, and Kessler and Vale.
All three doubles teams have first-round byes, and their opponents will be based on the first-round results. Ingildsen and Berdusco will play the winner of Felipe Ramirez and Feliksas Sakalauskas (Florida Gulf Coast) and Bryn Nahrung and Richard Thongoana (Florida State) at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The winner of Alan Rubio and Manoel Alencar (Central Florida) and Andrei Duarte and Roberts Grinvalds (Georgia State) will play Andrade and Greif at 5:30. Also at 5:30, Kessler and Vale will see the winner of Diego Padilha and Bailey Showers (Georgia State) or Luis Fernandez Labarta and Thomas Guy (Florida Atlantic).
The Gators’ last doubles victory at the ITA Regional Championships was in 2016 when Alfredo Perez and Ingildsen claimed the title. As for singles, UF’s title drought stretches back to 2012. Bryan Shelton’s squad will look to put an end to both of those streaks this weekend.
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood or contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
Sophomore Oliver Crawford has advanced to the quarterfinals of the USA F28 Futures tournament in Harlingen, Texas. He'll try and advance with a win during his 11 a.m. match today, while most of his UF teammates will see action at the ITA Regional Championships in Athens, Georgia.
