Sekou Bangoura Jr. advanced to the finals of the Lakewood Ranch Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic in Bradenton after picking up two wins on Saturday.
In the quarterfinals, No. 111 Bangoura battled No. 71 Tobias Wernet of Minnesota for three sets before earning a hard-fought victory (6-1, 3-6, 6-2). The sophomore followed up with a straight-sets victory against Wernet’s teammate, Rok Bonin, (6-1, 6-4).
Bangoura, who is from Bradenton, will have a chance to win a hometown championship today as he faces Arizona’s Andres Carrasco in the finals.
Carrasco finished with a 13-7 singles record last season, tying for the team lead in wins. He also earned Pac-10 All-Academic Honorable Mention Honors.
It was also a successful day for the Gators’ two freshmen as Michael Alford and Andrew Butz went undefeated in singles and doubles action.
Alford picked up his first win against a nationally ranked opponent when he defeated No. 72 Christian Blocker of Miami (6-2, 6-3) in singles consolation.
Butz also won in straight sets, defeating Adrian Forberg-Skogeng of Ole Miss (7-6(3), 6-4).
The pair played well in doubles, easily defeating Pepperdine’s duo of David Sofaer and Finn Tearney (8-2) in the quarterfinals. Alford and Butz will have a chance to win the doubles title as they will play in the semifinals today.
