Johannes Ingildsen didn’t do any kind of crazy celebration when he clinched the match.
The junior didn’t drop his racket and do a big fist pump, he just shook his opponent’s hand.
Maybe he was just winded after a long match point, volleying shots back and forth with his opponent, Siphosthando Montsi. Or maybe his quiet celebration was a product of what has been the attitude of Florida’s men tennis team this whole season: staying humble and moving on.
The No. 4 Gators improved to 13-2 in their 6-1 win over No. 13 Illinois on Wednesday at the Ring Tennis Complex. This was their second win this season over the Illini, they beat them 4-1 at the ITA National Indoor Team Championships in Chicago on Feb. 16.
The Gators’ dominant streaks continued against Illinois. They won their seventh match in a row, and the last five have come against teams ranked in the top 30. Florida is also off to its best start in nine years and has won 12 straight at home.
The Gators won in doubles for only the second time in five matches. The top ranked duo, senior McClain Kessler and sophomore Duarte Vale, defeated Illinois top duo of Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi 6-3 on court 1.
On court 2, sophomore Oliver Crawford and freshman Sam Riffice clinched the match for the Gators. Florida’s last doubles team, Ingildsen and senior Alfredo Perez, was up 5-4 before the match was stopped.
Attention of the 386 fans in attendance then turned to singles, and the Gators continued their dominant play there.
Riffice improved his winning streak to seven as he defeated No. 31 Brown 6-3, 6-2 in straight sets. It was Riffice’s second win over Brown this season, but this win came easier. When Riffice beat Brown in Chicago, it took three sets.
The focus turned to court 3 and 4 as sophomore Andy Andrade and Ingildsen were both trying to get the Gators closer to clinching. Andrade was the first to win, besting Zeke Clark in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) Ingildsen got the clinch with his 6-4, 6-2 win.
“It’s always great to clinch the match,” Ingildsen said. “Even if I wasn’t going to clinch, I knew somebody would have my back.”
The two coaches, Bryan Shelton from UF and Brad Dancer from Illinois, decided to finish playing out, but Florida didn’t lose control of the match. Kessler finished out his match on Court 5, and it seemed the Gators had a real chance to get a 7-0 win.
However the Gators’ highest-ranked player and the SEC player of the week, Crawford, suffered the Gators’ only loss as he fell to No. 14 Aleks Kovacevic in three sets. This was his second loss to Kovacevic; he lost to him in Chicago as well. The last win came on Court 6 as Vale won in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, and 6-4.
“We lost pretty badly to them last year,” Vale said post match about Illinois. “So it was good to show the improvement we have made in a year.”
Follow Noah Ram on Twitter @noah_ram1 and contact him at nram@alligator.org.
Sophomore Andy Andrade topped Zeke Clark in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) in Florida's 6-1 win over Illinois.
Noah is a third year journalism-sports and media student from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has been with The Alligator since Spring 2019 and has covered men’s and women’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. When he isn’t on his beat, Noah is usually sadden over his beloved South Florida sports teams, such as the Heat and Dolphins.
