On Sunday afternoon, the No. 25 Florida Gators men’s tennis team (8-8, 2-4 SEC) lost its fourth-straight conference match 5-2 to the No. 24 Alabama Crimson Tide (12-8, 2-3 SEC). The back-and-forth match featured four three-set singles matches where the Crimson Tide locked in and took three to help push them over the finish line.
About two-thirds of the way through doubles play, rain brought the match to a halt. The rain didn’t stop the Crimson Tide as they handled the Gators in the doubles session.
On Court 1, junior Nate Bonetto and UF freshman Aidan Kim took on the Alabama No. 74-ranked duo of junior Filip Planinsek and freshman Andrii Zimnokh. The Crimson Tide pair never trailed and marched to a 6-3 win.
On Court 2, Gators freshmen duo of Jeremy Jin and Henry Jefferson played Crimson Tide junior duo of Enzo Aguiard and Zach Foster. Enzo and Foster got out to a quick 3-0 lead over the Gator duo and never looked back, winning 6-3 to clinch the doubles point.
The singles action across all courts was tight and energetic. The first to fall on Court 3 was Bonetto. Taking on Alabama’s Zimnokh, Bonetto fought hard, but in the end, he was edged out 6-4, 7-6.
Alabama added its third point of the match following a win on Court 4 from sophomore Matias Ponce De Leon over No. 99-ranked sophomore Tanapatt Nirundorn. This one was a tale of two halves, and Nirundorn took the first set 6-4. After dropping the set, Ponce De Leon elevated his game and cruised to the finish line, winning the next two sets 6-3, 6-1.
UF claimed its first point of the day on Court 2 from Kim with a long two-set win over No. 69 Aguiard. The 6-3, 7-6 win gave the rest of the Gators, who were fighting in tight matches, a boost of energy.
Alabama graduate student Matic Dimic closed the door on Florida’s late push with a three-set win on Court 6. Florida’s Jefferson stayed in control of the match and was up a set 6-5, but Dimic fought to take the second set in a tiebreaker and separated himself in the third with a 6-2 win. The score was 4-1 in Alabama’s favor, and the final two matches split, with each team winning one, ending the match 5-2.
Next, the Gators will return home Friday to take on Ole Miss at 5 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
Contact Chandler Hawkes at chawkes@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @HawkesChandler.
