The ninth-ranked University of Florida men’s tennis team cruised to a 7-0 victory over Furman in its season opener on Friday at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
“We know that Coach [Paul] Scarpa is always going to have a well-coached team that makes you earn a win,” head coach Andy Jackson said. “We’re glad to get this win, and we’ll play better on Sunday. We know that there will be a considerable jump in talent with Baylor coming to town, and we’re looking forward to the match.”
Florida fought its way to the doubles point in quick fashion as Bob van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Billy Federhofer (North Miami, Fla.) posted an 8-0 victory on court two in just 28 minutes. They were followed by Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France) and Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) with an 8-3 court one win in which the Gator pair won four straight games to close out the match in 30 minutes. Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradeonton, Fla.) and Andrew Butz (Vero Beach, Fla.) completed the doubles sweep, winning 8-1 on court three.
Four Gators posted a 6-0 first set win in singles, and van Overbeek posted the first singles point of the day, taking a 6-0, 6-1 win over Andrei Chvetsov in 49 minutes. Slilam closed his court five match out after winning his first 10 games on the way to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Watson George. Bangoura provided the clincher moments later, as Alex Christ sailed a forehand deep to wrap up a 6-1, 6-1 Bangoura win and give UF a 4-0 lead.
“Coach is very good about making sure we know that on any given day we can beat anybody, but also that anybody can beat us if we don’t come out and play with intensity,” van Overbeek said. “We came out firing, and it helped that we got out of the gate that quickly and played with a lot of focus.”
Federhofer and Butz followed closely behind with straight-sets victories. Lacroix found himself in a battle on court one as Sawyer Duncan bounced back from a 6-0 first set to take the second set, 7-5. With Florida already having the match in hand, Lacroix and Duncan played a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set. Lacroix jumped to a 5-1 lead before Duncan answered with three straight points to draw within 5-4. However, Lacroix would not be denied, winning the final five points in the tiebreaker for a 10-4 victory.
The Gators will be back in action at home on Sunday at noon, facing the seventh-ranked Baylor Bears. Admission is free.
#9 Florida vs. Furman
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Jan. 21, 2011
Doubles
1 – (11) Lacroix/Slilam (UF) def. Duncan/Mellow (FU) – 8-3 (:30)
2 – Federhofer/van Overbeek (UF) def. Chvetsov/Droll (FU) – 8-0 (:28)
3 – Bangoura/Butz (UF) def. Christ/Cook (FU) – 8-1 (:34)
Order of Finish: 2-1-3
Singles
1 – (4) Alexandre Lacroix (UF) def. Sawyer Duncan (FU) – 6-0, 5-7, (10-4) (1:29)
2 – (52) Bob van Overbeek (UF) def. Andrei Chvetsov (FU) – 6-0, 6-1 (:49)
3 – (28) Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) def. Alex Christ (FU) – 6-1, 6-1 (:54)
4 – Billy Federhofer (UF) def. Andrew Mellow (FU) – 6-0, 6-2 (1:00)
5 – Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Watson George (FU) 6-0, 6-2 (:54)
6 – Andrew Butz (UF) def. Robbie Aru (FU) – 6-3, 6-2 (1:01)
Order of Finish: 2-5-3-6-4-1
