Freshman Luke Johnson during his first semester playing college tennis.
After going 2-6 in singles and 1-3 in doubles, the England product has bounced back during the dual meet season.
Johnson has become a reliable starter for the Gators, showing that he can earn victories for an inexperienced team.
With his victory against Furman’s Richard Casagrande on Sunday, Johnson improved his singles record to 3-1.
He is 2-0 in doubles.
“I’m glad to see [Johnson] rebound and play disciplined, solid tennis and working his way to the net to finish off opponents,” coach Bryan Shelton said.
Johnson’s improved play at the net is paying dividends in doubles.
Because Johnson plays in the advantage court, he does not serve and is at net the net during most points.
Johnson has played with four different partners — Mike Alford, Florent Diep, Billy Federhofer and Stephane Piro — in four doubles matches this season.
Playing with Alford for the first time against the Paladins, Johnson helped win the doubles point for the Gators with an 8-4 victory against Furman’s Jacob Behal and Casagrande.
“It was great to clinch the point,” Johnson said. “It was great momentum for us heading into singles play.”
Johnson played Sunday’s only closely contested match. Facing Casagrande, Johnson breezed by him in the first set, winning 6-1.
However, Casagrande battled back, winning the second set by clinching the tiebreaker for a 7-6 (5) win.
But Johnson regained momentum, taking the deciding 10-point tiebreaker (10-5) and securing the Gators’ third sweep of the season.
“He lost a little bit of focus in the second set,” Shelton said.
“You can see how quickly a match can turn, but Luke regained his confidence to rebound in the tiebreak.”
