Following three straight matches on the road, the Florida Gators men’s tennis team returned home Sunday, defeating UNC Wilmington 4-2 before taking down Florida Gulf Coast, 4-1, after.
Florida fell behind early, as No. 76 Kevin Edengren and Jeremy Jin went down 3-0 to UNCW senior Harold Huens and junior Lukas Steffen. The Gators couldn’t battle back on court two, eventually losing 6-3.
Court three saw senior JanMagnus Johnson and freshman Ben Weintraub in a close battle with UNCW senior Trey Mallory and sophomore Jordi Domenech. The Florida pair played from behind due to UNCW serving first, but ultimately pulled out the match 6-4, keeping Florida in contention for the doubles point.
Florida sophomores Henry Jefferson and Adhithya Ganesan duked it out with UNCW junior Alex de Gabriele and senior Joseph Wayand on court one to decide the doubles point. The Gators finally broke their opponents in the eleventh game en route to a 7-5 victory, giving Florida a 1-0 lead.
Weintraub snagged Florida its first singles point against Domenech on court six. After trailing 2-0, Domenech scored four straight points in set one. However, the Florida freshman roared back with four straight of his own to take the first set 6-4. The second set was all Weintraub, as the Gator cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 straight-set victory.
Ganesan and UNCW senior Sam Nicholson’s battle went to three sets on court two. Ganesan quickly grabbed a 6-1 first set victory but Nicholson won set two 6-3. Ganesan went down 5-0 in the final set and couldn’t complete a comeback, as his loss (1-6, 6-3, 6-3) earned UNCW its first point of the match.
No. 106 Jefferson’s match against Wayand on court three also took three sets. Despite Jefferson’s 6-4 win in set one, the senior from North Carolina won the next two sets 6-3, 6-4 to give UNCW its second point and tie the overall match score 2-2.
Johnson and De Gabriele’s match turned into an intense three-set bout as they split the first two sets. However, the Gator eventually pulled out the win, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, giving Florida a 3-2 edge.
Florida freshman Niels Villard defeated Steffen on court five in three sets to lift the Gators to victory. After dropping set one 7-6(2), Villard won the next two sets 6-4, 6-3, to seal Florida’s 4-2 match win.
No. 41 Jin and Huens played the longest match of singles on court one, which ended up unfinished in the second set. Jin won the first set 7-5.
Riding Florida’s momentum from its 4-2 victory over UNCW, the Gators picked up right where they left off in their following contest against FGCU. UF freshmen Rafael Segado and Villard stole a game early against FGCU sophomores Pablo Paternostro and Harry Michalowski in doubles on court three. The Gators didn’t look back from there, taking a decisive 6-3 win.
Jefferson and Jin broke FGCU sophomores Hugo Magnusson and CJ Smith in the fifth game of their doubles match on court one. This was just what the pair needed to glide to a 6-4 win and secure Florida the point in doubles.
With the point already clinched for UF, Johnson and Weintraub’s bout against sophomore Jonathan Baron and senior Guglielmo Stefanacci went unfinished.
Segado kept the Gators rolling with his singles victory in straight sets over Smith on court five. The Spainiard dominated, 6-0, 6-1 to give Florida a 2-0 lead.
Florida freshman Francesco Cordova made quick work of FGCU junior Stavros Hadjivarnava on court six, helping the Gators to a 3-0 lead with his straight-set victory (6-0, 6-1).
Jefferson fell to Magnusson in straight sets on court one (6-4, 7-6(7)), but he didn’t make it easy. The Gator forced a 16-point tiebreaker in the second set, but Magnusson won it 9-7 to steal the set 7-6 and give FGCU its first and only point of the match.
Johnson struggled in his first set against Baron on court two. However, the veteran persevered as he crept back into the match and won the next two sets to defeat Baron (2-6, 6-3, 6-3), lifting Florida to a 4-1 victory over FGCU.
Weintraub and graduate student Bradley Paliska’s matches against Stefanacci and Paternostro on courts three and four, respectively, were both left unfinished in the third set.
Florida coach Adam Steinberg previously said that UF’s 4-0 loss to FSU in Tallahassee on Friday left a bad taste in the Gators’ mouth and that they needed to get back in action and make proper adjustments.
Today they did just that, as the team brought unmatched energy to its home court.
The Gators will now set their sights on Dallas as they travel to face Southern Methodist University on Friday.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.com and follow him on X at @CuranAhern
Curan is the men's tennis beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major. He enjoys spending his free time with pets, at the beach and fishing.
