The UF men’s tennis team defeated the USF Bulls Sunday behind strong singles performances despite another loss in the doubles portion.
Florida preserved the partnerships that handled South Alabama on Saturday in doubles.
Senior Duarte Vale and redshirt senior Johannes Ingildsen rolled to a 6-3 victory on court one and gave the Gators an early 1-0 lead in the category.
On court three, USF tandem Manuel Goncalves and Alvin Tudorica took down senior Brian Berdusco and sophomore Will Grant 4-6. The Florida duo nearly pulled off an impressive comeback, but their efforts weren’t enough to overcome an insurmountable 5-2 lead.
In the decisive matchup on court two, freshman Ben Shelton and junior Sam Riffice struggled to establish themselves against a stout Bulls duo of Rithvik Bollipalli and Antonio Muniz. Well-placed winners by USF put Shelton and Riffice in an early two-game hole. Shelton’s inch-perfect shot at full stretch saved game three for the Gators, who relied on more acrobatic efforts from the freshman to force a tiebreak.
Despite Shelton’s performance helping to notch the set at six games a piece, Florida dropped the tiebreak 7-5, losing the doubles point and falling behind 1-0 entering singles play.
The Gators stuck with the singles lineup that cruised Saturday against the Jaguars.
On court one, USF’s Jakub Wojcik and Vale broke each other’s serve in ten out of twelve games in their first set. Wojcik seemed to hold the momentum until a sloppy mistake on an easy net shot in game ten turned the tide in Vale’s favor.
All six Gators won their first set and only the aforementioned Vale and Riffice faced significant opposition.
Dominant displays from Shelton, seniors Andy Andrade and Josh Goodger and junior Lukas Greif on courts three through six paved the way for a Florida victory. The four Gators won in straight sets and sealed the match for Florida before either Vale or Riffice could impact the scoreline.
Goodger and Greif both looked solid and took advantage of subpar play from the Bulls to notch quick victories.
Shelton was especially impressive against Muniz on court four. His raw athleticism and ability to cover the court nearly single-handedly earned the Gators the victory in doubles. Shelton played stunning defense in singles and took his chances, recording Florida’s third point, 6-2, 6-4.
Andrade earned the match-winning point minutes later against Ivan Yatsuk, 6-2, 6-4, to send the Gators past the Bulls and into the Sweet Sixteen. Florida will face the University of Illinois on May 17.
Contact Ryan Zehnder at rzehnder@ufl.edu and follow him on Twitter @ryan_zehnder
