The University of Florida men’s tennis team released its schedule for the 2020-21 season on Thursday.
The Gators will play the Auburn Invite from Oct. 2-4, the South Carolina Invite from Oct. 23-25 and the UGA Invite from Nov. 6-8.
The Auburn Invite will be the first team competition for UF since its final match of the abbreviated 2020 spring season — a 4-3 loss at Texas A&M on Mar. 8.
The Southeastern Conference’s new fall schedule format, which was announced on Aug. 27, allows teams to compete in up to three events beginning no earlier than Oct. 1. It also announced competitions must only involve SEC members or non-conference teams from the school’s geographic region.
The last time Florida competed against Auburn was in Gainesville on Mar. 1 of this spring.The Gators defeated the Tigers 7-0, losing only a single set across nine total matches.
The South Carolina Invite will be the first time the Gators have faced the Gamecocks since a 6-1 victory on Apr. 14, 2019. It will also mark the team’s first trip to Columbia, South Carolina, since the Gamecock Fall Invitational in Sep. 2018.
The Gators competed at Georgia last season in a ranked event, in which Duarte Vale won the black singles draw and Joshua Goodger and Andy Andrade were singles semifinalists of the red singles draw. Georgia was Florida’s next opponent on the spring 2020 schedule when the season was suspended.
Contact Ryan Haley at rhaley@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @ryan_dhaley.
Brian Berdusco at the ITA Tournament in Gainesville last season. This year, the Gators will play in three SEC-only invites.
Ryan Haley, a UF journalism senior with a sports & media specialization from Jacksonville, Florida, is Summer 2022's Engagement Managing Editor. He grew up playing a bunch of different sports before settling on golf, following Rory McIlroy and all Philadelphia sports teams. He also loves all things fiction, reading, watching shows and movies and talking about whatever current story or character is in his head.
