The air at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Complex crackled with tension as the Florida Gators men’s tennis team entered Fort Worth nursing the sting of a narrow 4-3 loss at SMU Friday.
With Florida determined to turn the page while searching for an upset and TCU looking to recover from a tough defeat Friday to No. 3 Texas, both teams arrived with a shared sense of urgency, eager for redemption.
After a monumental win by Florida basketball over No. 1 Auburn on Saturday, the men’s tennis team had a chance at history on Sunday to make Florida the first school to defeat two No. 1 ranked opponents in different sports on consecutives days.
However, Florida men’s tennis’ struggles continued, as the Gators were swept 4-0 by the No. 1 TCU Horned Frogs on Sunday afternoon.
In doubles, sophomore Adhithya Ganesan and junior Tanapatt Nirundorn fell behind No. 2 seniors Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives early on court one, 4-1. The Gators couldn’t crawl out of the three-game hole, falling 6-3.
Florida sophomores Henry Jefferson and Jeremy Jin couldn’t overcome junior Jack Pinnington and freshman Cooper Woestendick on court two. Despite starting 2-2, the Florida pair lost three straight to fall behind 5-2. Florida’s 6-3 doubles loss on court two gave TCU a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
UF sophomore Kevin Edengren and senior JanMagnus Johnson’s match with TCUsophomore Duncan Chan and freshman Albert Pedrico Kravtsov on court three went unfinished, with the Gators leading 4-3.
After losing the doubles point, Florida struggled to find any rhythm in singles.
Jefferson couldn’t get in a groove against Woestendick on court four, as the latter swept him 6-0 in set one. The 6-foot-6 Gator was all but out of it from there, as he fell in straight sets (6-0, 6-2) to give TCU a 2-0 lead.
Ganesan battled hard against No. 18 Pinnington on court one, but fell short. Despite pushing his opponent to a second-set tiebreaker, Ganesan couldn’t overcome the Horned Frog senior, ultimately falling in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(2).
Jin took No. 9 Maxted to three sets on court two. Despite falling 6-2 in set one, Jin battled back in the second with a 6-4 victory. However, TCU’s senior from England powered through the challenge Jin posed, taking set three 6-4 and completing the 4-0 sweep for TCU.
UF’s Johnson and Nirundorn went unfinished in their third sets against TCU’s No. 92 Chan and sophomore Filip Apltauer on courts three and five, respectively. Florida freshman Niels Villard went unfinished with No. 111 TCU sophomore Julian Alonso, but not before winning the first set 6-3.
Florida will regroup this week as they head back home and look to bounce back against UNF at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex at noon on Sunday.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.com and follow him on X at @CuranAhern
Curan is the men's tennis beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major. He enjoys spending his free time with pets, at the beach and fishing.
