The Gators had their share of ups and downs on the first day of competition at the Lakewood Ranch Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic in Bradenton.
In singles action, the team posted an even 4-4 record as only Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Bob van Overbeek advanced to the third round.
Coach Andy Jackson said he expected maybe another player to advance and described the day as neutral.
Bangoura posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory in the first round against Kacper Rams of Temple before taking down Carlos Taborga of Alabama (7-6(3), 6-2).
Van Overbeek, who captured the singles title at the Texas Invitational last weekend, had a first-round bye and won his lone match of the day against Gabriel Flores of Miami (6-4, 6-4).
Jackson is confident in both sophomores’ performances and has high expectations for them going forward.
“I expected both of those guys to be in the quarters,” he said. “Both of those guys are here to win the tournament. They both have a clear chance to win the tournament.”
Billy Federhofer was the only other Gator to record a singles victory on the day. The sophomore took down David Sofaer of Pepperdine in three sets (7-5, 3-6, 6-4) but lost to Sofaer’s teammate, Tobias Wernet, in the second round (1-6, 6-3, 6-2).
“Billy had a chance to win against the No. 2 seed which was encouraging,” Jackson said.
Playing on clay courts for the first time in their collegiate careers, freshmen Andrew Butz and Michael Alford both lost their singles matches on the day.
Both players faced experienced opponents and had some fatigue issues, Jackson said.
“It’s pretty typical with freshmen,” he said. “We really have to be working more in the gym with those guys and mature physically.”
However, the freshmen were able to redeem themselves with a doubles victory against Miami’s Christian Blocker and Flores (8-3).
“It gives them some confidence,” Jackson said. “They beat a team from Miami that probably plays one or two for Miami.”
