Florida men’s tennis fall preseason came to a close at the NCAA Championships over the weekend.
The Gators sent three players to the USTA National Campus in Orlando with hopes of bringing an NCAA title back to Gainesville. Junior Jeremy Jin, who was coming off an ITA Masters crown in his last event, competed in the singles draw. His fellow teammates, juniors Henry Jefferson and Tanapatt Nirundorn, took to battle in the doubles draw. The tournament ran from November 18 to 23, with Jin starting on the 18th and Jefferson and Nirundorn beginning on the 19th.
Jin aimed to be the first Gator to win a singles title since Ben Shelton in 2022. He opened his NCAA run with a Round of 64 match against SMU junior Trevor Svajda. Svajda came into the match ITA-ranked No. 22, and it showed in the first set — winning it 6-1. But with his back against the wall, Jin fought back with a 6-4 win in the second set to force a deciding third frame. Both athletes went back-and-forth before Svajda gained a late lead and put the clamps on the rest of the way, winning the set 6-4 and securing the first round win.
With Jin eliminated, Florida’s hopes rested in the hands of Jefferson and Nirundorn. The doubles duo got started in the Round of 32 against Indiana senior Sam Landau and redshirt junior Facundo Yunis. Florida cruised to a straight-set win (6-3, 6-4) over the Hoosiers to advance to the Round of 16. Florida continued its dominant run going with another straight sets win over Ole Miss tandem sophomore Kai Milburn and senior Isac Strömberg (6-0,6-3).
Now in the quarterfinals, Jefferson and Nirundorn took on another SEC opponent: sophomore Max Stenzer and junior Sean Daryabeigi from South Carolina. The Gamecocks jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the first, before Florida responded, taking the lead 5-4 and winning the set 6-4. After a comeback win in the first, the Gators fought back in the second set, cruising to a 6-2 win and advancing to the semifinals.
Just one win away from the championship, the only thing standing in the Gators' path was the No. 18-ranked doubles unit of senior Mans Dahlberg and junior Dylan Dietrich of Virginia. For the first time in the tournament, Florida came out flat and could not recover in time, dropping the first set 6-1. Needing a set win to keep the match alive, Jefferson and Nirundorn fought hard for it, but the Cavaliers’ duo posed too big a challenge. UVA finished off Florida with a 6-4 set win and ended the Gators’ NCAA tournament run.
Dahlberg and Dietrich went on to win the doubles tournament the following day against Ohio State in straight sets.
With the fall season in the books, Florida will rest up and get ready for the spring season to begin. The Gators’ first serve is Jan. 17 in a doubleheader against Georgia Southern and USF.
Contact Hunter DeLauder at hdelauder@alligator.org. Follow him on X @DelauderHunter.
