After a weekend road trip, the No. 12 Florida men’s tennis team returns to its home court to play No. 32 TCU on Wednesday. The midweek matchup is set to begin at 6 p.m. at the Ring Tennis Complex.
The Gators (8-5, 3-1 SEC) have won three of their last four matches largely because of their doubles play.
Florida has won the doubles point in four consecutive matches, and the No. 1-ranked duo of junior Alfredo Perez and sophomore Johannes Ingildsen has led the way.
“We are just feeling more comfortable together, and it’s showing,” Perez said.
Perez and Ingildsen have won all three doubles matches they have finished during the streak.
Florida will look to continue its solid showings in doubles against a tough TCU (7-3) team led by the No. 20 tandem of sophomore Alastair Gray and freshman Alex Rybakov.
The Horned Frogs also have a strong singles squad that includes No. 30 Gray, No. 32 Rybakov and No. 72 Trevor Johnson. Rybakov has won his last five singles matches dating back to Feb. 6.
The Gators’ singles play has been unpredictable.
Florida opened its SEC schedule with wins against Georgia and Tennessee, only losing three combined singles matches against the two teams.
However, UF faltered on March 9 and lost all but one point against Mississippi State.
No. 7 Perez was the central focus after he lost in straight sets in back-to-back singles matches before he rallied on March 11 against Auburn to get back into the win column.
“(Perez) got back to the basics,” coach Bryan Shelton said. “He was able to stay calm, control his emotions and it resulted in solid play.”
Against Auburn, Shelton also restructured the singles lineup. He placed junior McClain Kessler into the lineup for the first time since Feb. 17 and senior Jordan Belga for the first time all season.
Belga made the most of his opportunity and won his match in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
“You never know what could happen,” Belga said. “You have to always be ready to play.”
To prepare for TCU, Florida has worked on its situational play. Shelton has expressed frustration in the team’s ability to close out matches.
“We need to make sure we’re at our best in those big-point moments,” Shelton said. “I know we will be.”
Follow Dylan Rudolph on Twitter @dyrudolph and contact him at drudolph@alligator.org.
Sophomore Johannes Ingildsen (pictured) and junior Alfredo Perez make up the No. 1 doubles pairing in the country. They're hoping to carry their momentum into a home matchup against TCU.
