Alfredo Perez knew this wasn’t just a normal win for the Florida men’s tennis team.
“It's always good to beat FSU,” the senior said in a release.
The No. 3 Gators defeated in-state rival Florida State 4-0 on Saturday at the Ring Tennis Complex in the Second Round of NCAA Tournament to move into the Super Regional. This was UF’s second win this year against the Seminoles, who it previously beat 4-1 on Feb. 2 at the USTA College Matchday in Lake Nona, Florida.
Doubles went down to the wire in Gainesville, but Florida ultimately prevailed. UF rolled out the same lineup for the second-straight match and it led to success early. Sophomores Duarte Vale and Andy Andrade won the first match 6-1 on Court 3. FSU fought back with a 6-3 win on Court 1 over junior Johannes Ingildsen and Perez. The point came down to Court 2, where freshman Sam Riffice and senior Alfredo Perez won 7-6 in a tiebreaker to clinch the point for the Gators.
Singles was a breeze for Florida. It won the first set on five of six courts. Andrade was the first to win his match, winning 6-0, 6-2 on Court 5, his first win since his collapse against Tennessee in the SEC Semifinals on April 20. Kessler improved to 27-1 in his career at home with a 6-0, 6-4 win on Court 6. Perez then clinched the match and moved into the top 10 in career wins in Florida history at 171 with a 7-6, 6-2 win on Court 4.
Perez is worried about a fellow teammate catching him on the top 10 list.
“It's good to be top 10, but I hear Johannes (Ingildsen) is right behind me,” he said in a release. “I'll take it as long as I can."
Perez said it was a relief to clinch the match.
"I was going to be a little upset if I was up 5-1 again and not be able to finish like yesterday,” he said. “But I was able to stay concentrated and get the job done for the team.”
Florida will now face its nemesis, No. 14 Tennessee, in the Super Regional. The Volunteers defeated NC State 4-2 to move into the Round of 16. Florida defeated UT on March 17 in Knoxville, but lost to Tennessee on April 20 in the SEC Tournament Semifinals in Gainesville. The match will begin at noon on May 11 in Gainesville.
Shelton is proud of his team’s response after the loss to UT two weeks ago.
"I think a lot of it is the preparation. I think our guys, after the last match against Tennessee, put in a lot of work, as they have all season,” he said in a release. “When you are prepared, and you have opportunity then you can go out there and execute and I think our guys did a good job of that.”
Follow Noah Ram on Twitter @noah_ram1. Contact him at nram@alligator.org.
The Gators men's tennis team eliminated FSU and advanced to the Sweet 16 on Saturday.
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.
