Florida’s men’s tennis team entered Thursday’s match against Arkansas well-rested and seeking a much-needed victory after losing its final two regular-season matches against Tennessee and South Carolina. The Gators (14-10, 9-6 SEC) braved the second round of the SEC Tournament with confidence, prepared for a repeat performance of its dominant 4-1 win over the Razorbacks on March 15.
Arkansas (18-14, 4-10 SEC) entered Thursday having won its last two matches, including a 4-2 comeback win over Ole Miss after losing the doubles point a day prior. However, Florida proved to be the superior team yet again, as the Gators prevailed over the Razorbacks and punched their ticket to the third round of the SEC Tournament with a 4-2 win.
Arkansas jumped ahead early, sweeping Florida in doubles to claim the first point.
UF freshman Ben Weintraub and sophomore Kevin Edengren couldn’t pull ahead of Arkansas’ pair of freshman Brendan Boland and senior Arthur Bellegy on court three, ultimately falling 6-4.
On court one, UF junior Tanapatt Nirundorn and sophomore Henry Jefferson, the No. 12 pair in the nation, similarly fell to No. 24 sophomore Connor Smillie and freshman Jakub Vrba 6-4, as Florida struggled in gaining momentum while Arkansas grabbed the doubles point.
UF sophomores Adhithya Ganesan and Jeremy Jin closely followed, losing to seniors Božo Barun and Benni Emesz on court two. Although the Florida pair led 5-2, they let five straight games slip by to lose 7-5.
Arkansas’ 1-0 lead didn’t phase the Gators heading into singles play. In its previous match against the Razorbacks, UF lost the doubles point before taking singles by storm with four straight wins. Just over a month later, the Gators kicked it into overdrive to earn four singles wins and take yet another comeback win over the Razorbacks, this time in the SEC tournament.
No. 47 Ganesan got the Gators’ efforts going with his eighth singles victory in conference play this spring, a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win over Barun that tied the contest 1-1.
No. 70 Jin struggled against Vrba on court two, as the freshman didn’t allow him any momentum. Vrba made a minimal amount of mistakes to upset Jin 6-3, 6-2 and regain the lead for Arkansas 2-1.
Jefferson answered back with a match-tying back-and-forth win over Bellegy in three sets. The sophomore won the first set 6-3, but Bellegy pushed back with a 6-3 win of his own in set two. Nevertheless, Jefferson’s 6-2 win in the final set tied the match and opened the door for the Gators to take over.
Florida freshman Niels Villard continued to impress in his first semester as a Gator, earning UF a 3-2 lead with a straight-set win over Boland on court six. After the Gators’ 6-4 win in set one, Boland forced a tiebreaker in set two. However, Villard kept applying pressure and ultimately took the tiebreaker 8-6 to win 7-6(6).
Nirundorn finished the job, clinching a 4-2 Florida victory with a grueling three-set win over Smillie. The Gator dominated set one 6-2, but Smillie edged out the second set with a 7-2 tiebreaker win. In the third set, Nirundorn never gave the Razorback a chance in a 6-1 win that secured Florida’s 4-2 victory.
Edengren went unfinished with Emesz after Florida clinched the match. Edengren lost set one 6-2, won set two 6-3, and led the third set 5-4 when the match was abandoned.
Up next, Florida will face the No. 3 seed South Carolina at 6 p.m. on Friday in the third round of the 2025 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.
