While no Gators played in the first round of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships on Thursday, seven players will be in action today.
Sekou Bangoura Jr., Nassim Slilam, Andrew Butz, Michael Alford, Bob van Overbeek and Billy Federhofer will all participate in the singles round of 64. After two rounds of play today, the field will shrink to 16 players.
Federhofer faces perhaps his best opponent of the season as he squares off against No. 4 Guillermo Gomez of Georgia Tech.
Gomez has made the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Team three consecutive years and has earned ITA All-American honors the past two.
It will be a tough test for Federhofer, who is looking to rebound after he fell in the first round of pre-qualifying at the ITA-All American Championships earlier this month.
In doubles action, the Gators will have three pairs playing including the freshmen duo of Alford and Butz.
The pair has enjoyed early success this season, going undefeated at the Gator Invitational and reaching the round of 16 at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships in September.
UF’s No. 20 pair of Alexandre Lacroix and Slilam will also be in action as they take on Miami’s Waylon Chin and Eduardo Pavia.
The Gators’ highly-rated duo played well at the ITA All-American, advancing to the semifinals in the main draw before falling to Ohio State’s Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola.
With three rounds of doubles play today, the quarterfinal matchups will be set by day’s end.
