Florida men’s tennis struck gold with every swing of the racket, while the Auburn Tigers fell flat on their face. With the exception of one singles match, Florida dominated all competition.
The No. 22 Florida Gators (10-7, 5-2 SEC) defeated the No. 18 Tigers (14-7, 3-4 SEC) 6-1 Sunday afternoon at Alfred A. Ring Complex.
Florida junior Will Grant and graduate student Axel Nefve — the No. 29-ranked doubles pair — took care of Auburn seniors Raul Dobai and Finn Murgett. They won 6-3 to kick things off for the Gators in doubles play.
Meanwhile, UF sophomore Nate Bonetto and freshman Tanapatt Nirundorn found themselves in a battle against Tigers freshman Billy Blaydes and senior Jan Galka. They played each other to a 6-6 tie, but the Gators duo won the tiebreaker to complete the 7-6 (6) win. The victory secured the doubles point for Florida.
Gators senior Lukas Greif and freshman Jonah Braswell played against Auburn senior Tyler Stice and freshman Alejandro Moreno. The match was retired since Florida had already secured the doubles point.
Blaydes tied the match up quickly in singles play. He defeated freshman Togan Tokac in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
Florida got the lead back when Greif took down Auburn sophomore Will Nolan in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
The Gators didn’t lose the lead the rest of the way.
The No. 97-ranked Braswell earned a two-set victory in his match against No. 107-ranked Moreno, 7-5, 6-2.
Bonetto beat Dobai in their three-set match. The first set was a 6-3 Bonetto win, then Dobai won the second set 6-2. Bonetto won the third set by a score of 6-2 to give UF a 4-1 advantage and clinch the win.
Grant — the No. 81-ranked singles player — took on Murgett in his singles match. Grant didn’t struggle much in the first set and won 6-3. The second set was tougher, but Grant still pulled off the 7-6 (3) victory.
The No. 70-ranked Nefve won Florida’s fifth straight singles match of the day in his match against No. 110-ranked Stice. The three-set match ended in favor of Nefve, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.
The Gators will travel to College Station to face the Texas A&M Aggies at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Contact Eitan Ohana at eohana@alligator.org. Follow him on twitter @eitan_ohana.
