The closer the day crept to noon, the more the anticipation seemed to build. The talent was undeniable, and the stakes seemed the highest they’ve been this season as two of the SEC’s most prestigious tennis programs looked to notch its first conference win.
Bringing an insatiable hunger for a win and a thrilling energy to its home bout against Auburn, the Florida Gators men’s tennis team routed the Tigers 7-0.
Sophomores Henry Jefferson and Jeremy Jin entered their bout on court two with an unmatched energy, digging deep to defeat Auburn freshmen Alex Frusina and Joey Phillips 6-4. The Gators fought hard for every point and ultimately emerged with the doubles advantage, as Jefferson sealed the win with a handful of powerful serves in the final game.
Florida junior Tanapatt Nirundorn and sophomore Adhithya Ganesan won UF the doubles point in a back-and-forth match against senior Will Nolan and junior Billy Blaydes, the No. 9 duo in the nation. Auburn’s spectacular return game helped it jump out to an early 3-1 lead before Florida began to climb back. With momentum building and a lively crowd, Nirundorn and Ganesan won three straight games to stun Auburn’s top 10 pair.
With the doubles point secured, Florida sophomore Kevin Edengren and senior JanMagnus Johnson abandoned their match with junior Thomas Kennedey and sophomore Nicholas Heng while tied 5-5.
The Gators looked to carry their momentum into singles play and keep the Tigers on their heels. Nirundorn’s straight set (6-2, 6-2) victory over Auburn freshman Hamza Nasridinov did just that, extending Florida’s lead to 2-0.
Jefferson continued Florida’s dominance with his 6-4, 6-1 victory over Phillips on court four. The former broke the latter to grab an advantage early in set one and never took his foot off the gas, using his booming serve to earn UF’s third point of the match.
Ganesan secured Florida the win over Auburn in his match on court two against No. 112 Frusina. Despite trailing early, Ganesan pushed back against his ranked opponent and outworked Frusina on his way to a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Even with Florida’s 4-0 lead clinching the match, the final three singles continued play, all going into super tiebreaks due to split sets.
Johnson entered a super tiebreak with Blaydes after splitting the first two sets (6-2, 4-6). It turned out to be a battle, as Johnson trailed by two, but pulled out an 11-9 win to tally another point for the Gators
Edengren made a miraculous comeback against Heng on court six as he extended Florida’s lead to 6-0. After dropping set one 6-0, it seemed like the sophomore didn’t stand a chance. However, the sophomore from Sweden came roaring back by winning set two in a tiebreaker (7-6) and taking the ensuing super tiebreak 10-7.
No. 61 Jin followed in Edengren’s footsteps with an impressive comeback against No. 124 Nolan on court one. After dropping set one 6-1, Jin took the second set 7-5 before completing the 7-0 sweep for the Gators with a remarkable 10-5 super tiebreak win.
Florida coach Adam Steinberg said that his players were excited to kick off conference play, and they couldn’t have started better.
“I still think there’s obviously a lot of things we can improve on, but it was pretty close to exactly how we wanted it to go against a very good team,” Steinberg said.
He also noted that because Florida is a team full of young talent, getting their first conference win will likely provide a huge boost for the squad.
“Winning in this conference is not easy — you get the first one, it helps a ton and just for team confidence and we got a lot of young guys that they need that,” Steinberg said.
“It was a great atmosphere, the support, the crowd really helped us… I think the guys really appreciated that all the Gators came out.”
Florida will look to keep this momentum rolling into its play on Monday when it hosts No. 19 Alabama at noon.
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.
