The Gators may have left the happiest place on earth without a smile.
The Florida men’s tennis team competed in the 2012 UTSA Clay Court Invitational at Disney this weekend. Senior Billy Federhofer, freshman Luke Johnson and redshirt freshmen Thomas Proisy and Gordon Watson were all in action.
The Orlando invitational had three different level draws: the Spear Draw, the Garnet Draw and the Gold Draw, ranking from amateur players in the Spear Draw to experienced players in the Gold Draw
On all three levels, the Gators left empty-handed.
For doubles, the duo of Federhofer and Watson won its first match against Tulsa’s Grant Ive and Tristan Jackson, the No. 3 seed in the Doubles Gold Draw, 9-7. The team then fell to Florida State’s tandem of Benjamin Lock and Dominic Cotrone 8-2 in the quarterfinals.
Florida’s team of Proisy and Johnson lost in the quarterfinals of the Garnet Draw against another FSU team — Andres Bucaro and Michael Rinaldi — 8-2.
Assistant coach Scott Perelman saw positives in doubles play from the tournament.
“Doubles are coming along nicely,” Perelman said. “We still have to work on the concepts and positions for doubles, but we are getting better.”
Singles play was not much different for the Gators.
Federhofer, Watson and Johnson each lost their only singles match in two sets.
Perelman said that the clay courts definitely played a factor. Most college matches are played on a hard court, so players need to make adjustments when playing on clay.
Proisy played in his first collegiate tournament match Friday afternoon and beat FAU’s Sean Bacha in a swift two sets, 6-4, 7-6 (4), in the first round of the Spear Draw.
Though Proisy lost his next match on Saturday against USTA junior Chase Perez-Blanco, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, the assistant coach praised his play.
“It was extremely positive,” Perelman said referring to Proisy’s first collegiate play. “He was definitely our bright spot on the weekend.”
