The
Florida men’s tennis team earned its second-straight 7-0 victory on Saturday,
defeating St. John’s in the first round of the 2013 ITA Kick-Off Weekend at
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
With
the win, the Gators improved to 3-0 on the season and advance to Sunday’s
Championship match at 1 p.m. with a chance to earn a berth in the ITA National
Indoors next month in Seattle. Florida will face the winner of the
UNC-Wilmington and South Alabama match, scheduled to be played Saturday
afternoon at Linder Stadium.
“Tomorrow
we know we’re going to be pushed with whatever team wins [this afternoon],
South Alabama or UNCW,” said head coach Bryan Shelton. “We’ve got to be ready.
We know it’s coming. We’re not going to just coast through the whole season.”
Florida
won the doubles point for the third time in three matches, winning at the No. 1
and 2 positions. On court one, the duo of Billy Federhofer and Gordon Watson
jumped out to a 7-0 lead before winning 8-1 against SJU’s Vasko Mladenov and
Hugo Morth, who ranked 52nd in the nation entering the match.
“We
played well today,” said Federhofer. “We didn’t do anything special, but
everything was really solid. Playing with Gordon’s fun because he loves doubles
and he’s really aggressive at the net … we complement each other pretty well.”
Stephane
Piro and Bob van Overbeek, playing at No. 2 doubles, beat the Red Storm’s
Valentin Mihai and Mike Lampa, 8-3. The Gator pair earned a break at 5-3 and won
the final four games of the set to clinch the doubles point.
At
No. 3 doubles, Florent Diep and Luke Johnson led SJU’s Mark Mozer and
Michael-John Every, 5-4, when play was halted.
“I
was impressed with how well St. John’s came out in the doubles,” said Coach
Shelton. “I thought they came out and were firing right away from the very
first point. I was also impressed with our guys, when they came with some
pressure we didn’t back down. We played extremely well at No. 1 doubles, just
very solid. Billy and Gordon made very few unforced errors and executed at the
net and made good choices.
“Steph
and Bob were able to gather themselves midway through the proset and reeled off
four games in a row to get that point. That was great.”
In
singles, Florida got an early point as Mladenov had to retire due to injury
against Diep, who led 4-0 at No. 1 singles. Johnson, playing on court six, won
6-2, 6-0 over Every to push the Gators lead to 3-0.
At
No. 5 singles, Federhofer won the first set, 6-2, over Mozer and cruised in the
second set, 6-0, to clinch the team victory for Florida.
“I think
we all competed really hard today and we got it done,” said Federhofer. “We saw
a lot of positives today, but we also saw a lot of things we can do better
tomorrow, so hopefully we’ll be able to execute that tomorrow.
“That
was my first [clinching match] this year. I love doing that, but I just want
the team to win. It’s nice that I was fortunate enough to be able to, but as
long as we win I don’t care who wins.”
The
Gators got two more points from van Overbeek and Piro who finished a minute
apart, who won at No. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Van Overbeek beat Mihai,
6-3, 6-2, while Piro beat Lampa, 6-2, 6-2. Gordon Watson completed the shutout
with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Morth on court four.
“I
liked the way St. John’s came to the net and attacked and forced us to defend a
little bit,” said Coach Shelton. “That’s good for our guys to see some
different styles of play. I thought we did a good job of just staying tough out
there mentally.”
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2013 University of Florida Men’s Tennis
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Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
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Gainesville, Florida
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Saturday, January 26, 2013
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Doubles
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FLORIDA
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vs
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St. John's
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Winner
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Score (match length)
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Billy Federhofer
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Vasko Mladenov (52)
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No. 1 -
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Gordon Watson
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Hugo Morth (52)
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UF
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8-1 (:30)
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Stephane Piro
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Valentin Mihai
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No. 2 -
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Bob van Overbeek
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Mike Lampa
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*UF
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8-3 (:36)
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Florent Diep
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Mark Mozer
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No. 3 -
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Luke Johnson
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Michael-John Every
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DNF
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UF led 5-4
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Singles
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FLORIDA
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vs
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St. John's
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Winner
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Score (match length)
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No. 1 -
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Florent Diep (26)
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Vasko Mladenov
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UF
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4-0 (ret. Injured)
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No. 2 -
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Bob van Overbeek (51)
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Valentin Mihai
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UF
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6-3, 6-2 (1:13)
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No. 3 -
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Stephane Piro
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Michael Lampa
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UF
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6-2, 6-2 (1:14)
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No. 4 -
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Gordon Watson (118)
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Hugo Morth
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UF
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6-4, 6-1 (1:31)
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No. 5 -
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Billy Federhofer
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Mark Mozer
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*UF
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6-2, 6-0 (1:06)
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No. 6 -
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Luke Johnson
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Michael-John Every
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UF
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6-2, 6-0 (1:00)
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FINAL SCORE:
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Florida - 7
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SJU - 0-2
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* Clinched victory
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Records:
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Florida 3-0
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SJU - 0-3
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Order of Finish:
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Doubles: 1, 2
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Singles: 1, 6, 5, 2, 3, 4
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Attendance:
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156
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