The Florida men’s tennis team beat Arkansas,
4-0, on Sunday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. The Gators
improved to 10-8 on the season and evened their Southeastern Conference record
at 4-4. The Razorbacks fell to 12-12 overall and 0-9 in the league.
“It was a good team effort,” said head coach
Bryan Shelton after the match. “I thought the guys played well from start to
finish today. I think we were kind of on a mission to really come out there and
get out of the blocks early in the doubles, and apply pressure early and
execute early. I thought our guys did that.”
The Gators claimed the momentum with a solid
doubles performance, jumping out to a 4-1 lead on all three courts. Stephane
Piro and Bob van Overbeek won 8-3 against No. 35 Manfred Jeske and Mike Nott of
Arkansas on court one and seconds later, Billy Federhofer and Gordon Watson
clinched the doubles point with an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles over Hall Fess and
Santiago Munoz.
“I thought we played smarter tennis,” said
Coach Shelton. “I think we used the lobs effectively in doubles and we used
them in singles as well. We just played good, solid, smart tennis.”
Florida’s strong play continued into singles,
as Alford won his first eight games against Hoang on court four, and won 6-0,
6-2. Federhofer closed out Ward at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-2, to give UF a 3-0
lead overall in the match. Johnson secured the team victory for the Gators,
beating Parlic 6-3, 6-2 on court six.
“In singles, we got off to a really good
start again, like we did two days ago,” said Coach Shelton. “The difference
today was that we just kept playing. When they tried to mount a comeback and
get loud and really get fired up, we were able to sustain our level and even
raise our level in certain spots.
“I was proud of the guys to be able to bounce
back. We’re going to face adversity, we know that. It’s all about what you do
when adversity comes, how you respond to it. I liked our response today. I
thought we did some really good things out there today.”
