The Florida men’s tennis team was ready to hit the court on Friday for the first time in 13 days.
Mother Nature had other plans.
Rain for a good part of the morning and afternoon in Gainesville forced the start time for the Gators’ match against Florida Gulf Coast to be moved from noon to 4:15 p.m.
Once the match finally began, the No. 3 Gators cruised to a 4-0 win over the Eagles at the Ring Tennis Complex in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
After losing the doubles point when it was upset by Tennessee in the SEC Tournament in its last match, Florida (22-3) rebounded against Florida Gulf Coast (14-9). The Gators debuted another new doubles duo with freshman Sam Riffice and senior Alfredo Perez picking up the first win 6-3 on Court 2. Junior Johannes Ingildsen and senior McClain Kessler won 6-4 on Court 1 to clinch the point.
UF faltered in singles play against the Volunteers, losing three of six matches. Any hope FGCU had of capitalizing on those struggles in singles play was put away early, however.
Riffice recovered from his collapse against UT with a 6-1, 6-4 win on Court 2. Ingildsen also recuperated from his loss against Tennessee with a 6-4, 6-0 victory on Court 3. Sophomore Duarte Vale clinched the match on Court 6, besting Javier Fernandez 6-1, 6-4. The Gators last three matches with Perez, sophomore Oliver Crawford and sophomore Andy Andrade, were cut short because of the clinch. All three were ahead when their matches were stopped.
Florida will be back in action Saturday against Florida State in Gainesville at 2 p.m. The Seminoles defeated UCF 4-3 before Florida’s match against FGCU to clinch their spot in the second round.
The Gators have already defeated FSU this year, a 4-1 win on Feb. 2 at the USTA College Matchday in Lake Nona, Florida.
Follow Noah Ram on Twitter @noah_ram1. Contact him at nram@alligator.org.
The Gators sailed to a 4-0 win over FGCU in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Noah is a third year journalism-sports and media student from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has been with The Alligator since Spring 2019 and has covered men’s and women’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. When he isn’t on his beat, Noah is usually sadden over his beloved South Florida sports teams, such as the Heat and Dolphins.
