Walt Disney World may be the "happiest place on earth" for the youth, but for the four Gators at the 2014 USTA Collegiate Clay Court Invitational, it’s too early to tell if they’re under the Magic Kingdom’s spell.
Three of the four Gators won in the singles Round 1 on Thursday — the first of the four-day tournament.
Though less than half of the Gators headed south to represent their No. 23 ranked team, only 13 schools are competing this weekend in the smaller-scale tournament.
Ranked No. 37, Florida State University is hosting the third annual tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Following UF and FSU, is No. 55 Miami and No. 69 Central Florida.
No. 5-seed junior Diego Hidalgo defeated University of South Alabama’s Juan Troglia in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
The Ecuador native is paired to play Matt Barry of Penn State today in singles second round.
Senior Richard Brej defeated Virginia Tech’s George Cartledge after dropping the second set, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-1.
Brej will play Clemson’s No. 1-seed Hunter Harrington today in singles second round.
Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco defeated University of Miami’s Wilfredo Gonzalez after losing the first set, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Today Perez-Blanco will play Georgia Tech’s Carlos Benito in the singles round two.
Freshman Jordan Belga dropped to Florida State University’s Marco Nunez, though not without a fight when he cleared second set, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Belga will play Virginia Tech’s Florian Nicoud in consolation singles today.
Florida’s two doubles won round one Thursday.
Tandem Belga and Perez-Blanco defeated Virginia Tech’s Jai Corbett and Joao Monteiro in "A" doubles, 8-6.
UF’s second pair and No. 4-seed in "B" doubles Brej and Hidalgo defeated Stetson University’s Graham Ball and Chester Espie, 8-4.
Today Belga and Perez-Blanco play Columbia University’s No. 4-seed Richard Pham and Mike Vermeer in the second round "A" doubles.
Brej and Hidalgo will play University of Southern California’s Rob Bellamy and Eric Johnson in the second round of "B" doubles today.
"Playing on a clay court is much different than playing on a hard court," volunteer assistant coach Scott Perelman said in a release.
"We got three good days of really good practice on the clay in Gainesville, which helped us prepare for today.
"Our competitive effort today was excellent. We must continue to improve each and every day as we get closer to the spring season."
Follow Mary Francis on Twitter @_MaryFrancis
Diego Hidalgo prepares to serve during the SEC Fall Classic at UF's Ring Tennis Complex
