The
fifth-ranked Florida men’s tennis team posted a 7-0 victory over New Mexico Saturday
at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in the opening round of the ITA
Kickoff Weekend.
“It’s
very important for our team to go to the National Indoors,” said head coach
Andy Jackson. “We beat a quality team today in New Mexico and will have a
chance tomorrow to play to go to the Indoors.”
The
Gators will face either Miami or Wake Forest at 1 p.m. on Sunday with a trip to
the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 17-20 at the University of
Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.
UF
swept the doubles competition for the second-straight match. Junior Billy
Federhofer (North Miami, Fla.) and senior Nassim Slilam (Paris,
France), the No. 4-ranked doubles pair in the nation, opened with an 8-3 win
over the 16th-ranked duo of Jadon Phillips and Phil Anderson from New Mexico. Junior
Bob van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) and sophomore Andrew Butz
(Vero Beach, Fla.) clinched the doubles point for the Gators against Carl Ho
and James Hignett after Butz held serve to win 8-3.
“We
were a little tentative at the beginning of the doubles, which I think is a kind
of normal because we were probably a little bit nervous to play at home and to
play as a big favorite,” said Coach Jackson. “I think we’ve got some things we
can improve on for tomorrow’s match, but we finished well today.”
Frank
Carleton
(Naples, Fla.) and Spencer Newman (Miami, Fla.) completed the doubles
sweep, breaking Ben Dunbar and Conor Berg in the final game for the 8-4 win.
Singles
action started off fast, with UF taking the first set in five matches
relatively quickly. Newman continued his hot singles play, breezing to a 6-1,
6-0 win over Berg at No. 4 singles. Playing just his second match at No. 1
singles, van Overbeek took down No. 81 Phillips in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 for
a 3-0 Florida lead.
Sophomore
Michael Alford (Tampa, Fla.), playing in his first dual singles match,
clinched the victory for the Gators on court 6. After earning two breaks in the
first set, Alford broke Mads Hegelund twice more in the second set for the 6-1,
6-2 win.
Both
players at No. 5 singles held serve for the first 15 games and split the first
two sets, but Butz claimed the win in a third-set pro tiebreak over Ho, 7-6 (5),
4-6, 10-7. Sophomore Florence Diep (Paris, France) finished the shutout
with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win at No. 3 singles over Anderson.
