After coasting through an easy first day against FAU at the Gator Invitational, UF men’s tennis coach Andy Jackson correctly predicted UCF would be able to provide a tougher test.
Though the Gators once again swept all six of their solo matches and their three doubles matches, both nationally-ranked senior Nassim Slilam and junior Billy Federhofer were pushed by the Golden Knights in Ring Tennis Complex.
The 36th-ranked Slilam dropped his opening set against Central Florida’s Mitch Thams 1-6, before pulling back the next two by a score of 6-3 for a three-set win.
Federhofer, ranked 119th, also had to fight for a contested victory after the Golden Knight’s Mario Sampson pressed the junior in a pair of 6-4 sets.
Four other Gators including: No. 58 Bob van Overbeek, No. 69 Frank Carleton, and sophomores Michael Alford and Spencer Newman, also notched their second straight-set wins of the young season.
On Sunday, Florida will face South Florida in the final day of its home meet. The Bulls went a perfect 6-0 in singles play on Saturday and dropped just one match in doubles action against the Owls.
