With the Gators down 2-0, junior Rachel Gailis came back to secure a major upset over Auburn junior and national No. 2 DJ Bennett. Senior Alicia Dudeney followed suit by winning her singles match, providing a positive light to Florida’s tough defeat.
After two weeks of rest, the Gators traveled to Auburn to start off their SEC campaign against the No. 4 Tigers. Even though Florida lost 5-2 to Auburn, the Gators showed they could compete with anybody on the court, highlighted by their pair of singles victories on courts one and two.
Much of this competitiveness was seen in singles play. Of the six matches, the Gators only lost one in straight sets. In addition, Florida won seven of the 17 sets on the afternoon, with only four of the 10 lost sets being decided by more than two games.
The most impressive part of Florida’s fight today came from Gailis, as she faced off against Bennett, a reigning ITA Singles All-American.
Their match started with Gailis taking control and winning the first set 6-2. Bennett fought back to flip things around in the second set to beat Gailis 6-2. With the match on the line, Gailis pulled away with the massive upset, beating Bennett 6-4 in the third set to secure victory.
This victory for Gailis marks her highest-ranked career win, as it surpasses her victory over No. 7 Ayana Akli of South Carolina from last season
This slight success in singles continued for the Gators on court two, as Dudeney faced Auburn graduate student and 2024-25 NCAA Doubles semifinalist Ava Hrastar.
The UF senior from the United Kingdom dropped the first set 6-4, but turned things around to defeat Hrastar in the second set 6-4. Dudeney comfortably secured the victory by taking the third set 6-3.
Nevertheless, the rest of the dual match went as expected based on each program’s recent form.
Florida has had its fair share of struggles so far this season. Some included being swept 7-0 on the road against No. 7 Michigan and losing 4-1 at home against No. 22 LSU in the ITA Kickoff Weekend Championship match.
Auburn came into this match in great form. The Tigers are 11-1 on the young season, including three victories over top-10 ranked opponents. In their last time out, the Tigers took down Kansas State in a quick 4-0 win at home.
The Tigers would carry this momentum into doubles play to start the day.
On court three, freshman pair Nikola Daubnerova and Noémie Oliveras faced Auburn sophomore Ava Esposito and freshman Maria Garcia. The Florida pair was defeated with ease, 6-2.
Gailis and freshman Talia Neilson-Gatenby subsequently fell short against junior Angella Okutoyi and freshman Merna Refaat 6-3, securing the doubles point for the Tigers.
Later in the day, despite winning on courts one and two, Florida fell short in the rest of singles play.
Neilson-Gatenby was the only Gator to lose in straight sets, as she was defeated by No. 57 Okutoyi 6-4, 6-1 on court three.
Oliveras started things off strong on court six after taking the first set 6-3 over AU sophomore Alice Battesti. After losing the second set 6-4, however, Oliveras was unable to bounce back and was defeated 6-1 in the third set.
On court four, Daubnerova got off to a rough start against No. 17 Refaat, as she lost the first set 6-1. However, Daubnerova was able to force a tiebreaker to later take the second set 7-6. Despite her efforts, the UF freshman from Slovakia fell just short against her top-20 ranked opponent, losing the third set 7-5.
Finally, Florida senior Bente Spee took on Esposito on court five. The Florida senior dropped the first set 6-4, but flipped things around to win the second set 6-4. Just like Daubnerova, Spee subsequently lost the third set 7-5.
Auburn’s doubles play and performances on courts three through six in singles allowed the Tigers to secure a 5-2 victory over the Gators in the first match in conference play for both programs.
The Gators are now 3-3 and will look to bounce back, as they continue conference play on Feb. 28 on the road against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the Spring 2025 women's tennis beat reporter and a first-year journalism sports & media major. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams.
