The Gators men’s tennis team traveled south to Delray Beach, Florida, to participate in the Fighting Illini Invite. The two-day event served as a tune-up event for both teams heading into the regular season, starting this Friday.
On day one, six different Gator players saw action.
In doubles, the Gators took both lines. Florida freshman Henry Jefferson and junior Nate Bonetto beat the Fighting Illini duo of senior Hunter Heck and junior William Mroz 6-4.
In the second match, Gators sophomore Tanapatt Nirundorn and freshman Adhithya Ganesan dominated junior Mathis Debru and redshirt freshman Tyler Bowers 6-1.
Fighting Illini claimed three of the four day-one single matches.
Bonetto sealed the only singles win for the Gators with a comeback victory over Fighting Illini freshman Jeremy Zhang 2-6, 6-3, and 6-2.
In the other matches, No. 46 Heck defeated No. 57 freshman Aidan Kim for Florida 6-4 and 6-2. Bowers defeated UF freshman Kevin Edengren 6-3 and 6-4.
In the final first-day match, Mroz beat Ganesan in a tough three-setter 6-2, 3-6, and 7-5.
On day two, the rain postponed numerous matches. No. 38 Bonetto and Kim took on Mroz and Debru in the tough weather and won 6-2.
The second match ended with the Fighting Illini duo downing Nirundorn and Ganesan 2-0.
The singles action was also cut short, with only one match completed and another ending midway through the second set.
In the first match, Ganesan beat Zhang 6-3 and 6-1. In the second match, Debru beat Bonetto 6-3, 3-2 with a retirement from Bonetto.
Tuned and ready for the regular season, the Gators will return home to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex on Friday for a doubleheader. They will take on The Citadel at 11 a.m. and North Florida at 4 p.m.
Contact Chandler Hawkes at chawkes@alligator.com. Follow him on Twitter @HawkesChandler.
