Riding the high of a dramatic comeback win and upset of No. 26 Georgia, Florida men’s tennis (13-9, 8-5 SEC) hosted No. 18 Tennessee, prepared to keep its momentum alive and knock off another ranked SEC rival.
Tennessee (17-6, 8-4 SEC) entered Saturday’s match scorching hot having gone undefeated in March, producing a 7-0 record against conference opponents. However, after suffering a narrow 4-3 loss to No. 21 South Carolina on April 3rd, the Volunteers arrived in Gainesville with a vengeance, hungry to bounce back. Looking to continue its domination of the SEC and take down a bitter rival, Tennessee bested the Gators 4-3 in Saturday’s matchup.
This marked Florida’s final home match of the season, as well as a senior day celebration that showed for JanMagnus Johnson and Bradley Paliska, the team’s two seniors.
Prior to the match, the announcer recognized the Florida seniors for their contributions to the tennis team and university in front of the crowd, providing a heartfelt moment for the seniors before the war that would be their final match in Gainesville.
Florida sophomore Kevin Edengren and freshman Ben Weintraub kicked off the high intensity matchup by dominating Tennessee freshmen Jan Kobierski and Jose Garcia on court three. The Gators jumped to an immediate 3-0 lead and never looked back. Edengren and Weintraub won their match 6-0 in just 25 minutes to give Florida an early advantage in doubles.
Sophomores Adhithya Ganesan and Jeremy Jin played well to keep pace with Tennessee seniors Shunsuke Mitsui and Alan Jesudason on court two, tied 5-5. However, Florida couldn’t pull out a win as the Volunteers evened doubles play with a 7-5 victory.
The No. 23 pair of UF junior Tanapatt Nirundorn and sophomore Henry Jefferson impressed with a court one upset of graduate student Alex Kotzen and junior Alejandro Moreno, the No. 12 pair in the nation. Tied 5-5, the Florida pair broke the Vols to win two straight games and earn a 7-5 victory, giving Florida a 1-0 lead entering singles play.
Florida kept the energy high in singles play, backed by a solid crowd, and kept its momentum rolling by winning four of its first six sets.
Jefferson broke out of his recent slump of three straight losses against Tennessee senior Ian Cruz on court five. Jefferson wasted no time, taking a 3-0 lead to start the match and besting the Vol in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to give Florida an energizing 2-0 lead.
No. 95 Ganesan pulled off yet another huge upset on court one, defeating No. 25 Kotzen in straight sets. Despite a solid start from Kotzen, Ganesan pulled away in set one 6-3. The sophomore continued to play hard, determined not to allow his ranked opponent to gain even an inch of opportunity and took down Tennessee 6-4 in the second set. Ganesan’s victory gave Florida an unforeseen 3-0 lead and moved it one point from victory.
However, Tennessee refused to go down quietly and forced long, grueling matches to battle all the way back in singles.
Edengren couldn’t continue his six-match singles win streak as Garcia downed him in straight sets on court four. Despite starting with an impressive 3-0 lead, Edengren would only win one more game as Garcia came surging back to earn a 6-4 victory in the first set. From there, Garcia remained in control to win set two 6-4 and get Tennessee on the board, 3-1.
No. 68 Jin put up a valiant effort in trying to take down No. 31 Mitsui on court two but fell just short as the Tennessee senior outlasted him in a three-set victory. Jin took an early 2-0 lead in the first set and used that edge to secure a hard-fought 7-5 win over Mitsui. However, the Volunteer wore down Jin and showcased why he entered Saturday’s match with a 30-7 singles record, dominating set two 6-1. Jin couldn’t fight back into contention in the third set as Mitsui took another 6-1 victory to best Jin 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 and bring Tennessee within one, 3-2.
Florida freshman Niels Villard dominated Kobierski in set one, but lost his momentum as the Tennessee freshman made a comeback in three sets. Villard started the match up 3-0 and rushed to a 6-2 first set victory, but Kobierski battled back to secure a 6-3 victory in set two. In the third set, Villard started strong but failed to find a groove as the Volunteer’s new energy propelled him to a 6-3 victory, tying the match 3-3.
Johnson came up just short for UF in set one against Moreno, falling 6-4. However, Johnson dug deep to secure a 6-4 win in set two and take the match into an all-deciding third set.
Despite his efforts to force a third set, the Gator with a team-high 12 singles wins this season couldn’t deliver one last surge with the overall match resting in the balance of court three. As the sweltering Florida sun beat down on the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex, Moreno took a 6-1 win to secure Tennessee’s 4-3 victory.
“Week in and week out in the SEC, every single match is very challenging,” UF assistant coach Max Koller said. “Obviously with Georgia and Tennessee, it means a little bit more just with the history of the programs and the rivalry between the two schools. But we’ve got a lot of respect for Tennessee and how hard they play.”
Koller also stressed the importance of the seniors to the team, noting that senior day is a special celebration for appreciating the players and recognizing their accomplishments.
“We’re honoring Bradley Paliska and JanMagnus Johnson, two seniors on our team, they’ve given a lot to this program,” he said. ”All the hard work they put in for the Florida Gators, they’re a really, really special two people and they mean a lot to us here.”
Florida will take a week off from matches and look to bounce back on Saturday when it faces another top 25 SEC team on the road in Columbia, South Carolina. The Gators will take on No. 21 South Carolina at 5 p.m. in their final conference match of the season before the SEC tournament.
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.
