From the first serve of the Florida men’s tennis home opener, the Gators put full force into their swings. They dominated all of the courts in doubles and quickly won the points.
However, South Florida mounted a comeback and forced a third set in the last nail-biting singles match on court two between Florida junior Henry Jefferson and South Florida senior Ettore Danesi.
But Jefferson called game, winning the final set 6-3 to secure the Gator victory.
Gators men’s tennis (1-0) began its home opener with dominance and revenge on its mind. With flashbacks of its second-round exit in last year's Division I Men’s Tennis Championship against No. 15 UCF fueling its play, Florida delivered a 4-3 dual match victory.
This win moves Florida’s all-time record against the Bulls to 55-3.
“Tennis is pretty awesome in our state, on the junior level and on the college level,” said Florida men’s tennis head coach Adam Steinberg. “These matches with Florida State, UCF, USF, they're great. We see these teams a lot in the fall, and these rivalries make us better, for sure.”
The additions of Spanish senior transfer Pablo Perez Ramos and Cypriot freshman Andreas Timini proved extremely beneficial, as both won their respective games.
“They bring a lot, especially Pablo,” Steinberg said. “He’s got a lot of experience; he’s played three years of college tennis, so he gets it. And for our little man, Timini, he did a great job today in his first dual match. He’s been struggling with his tennis a bit, so I was really happy to see that.”
Starting with the doubles matches, Timini and junior Kevin Edengren took care of business in quick fashion, winning 6-0 on court three.
Timini delivered a dominant performance for his first-ever home duel as a Gator. According to Steinberg, however, Timini hasn’t even reached his full potential yet.
“I think that was a huge lift for him personally, because he hasn't been playing the way he thinks he’s capable of,” Steinberg said.
Similarly, Perez Ramos and junior Adhithya Ganesan went on a run of unanswered points to ultimately win their doubles match 6-3.
With the doubles point officially secured between courts three and two, the fans were eager to see how the back-and-forth battle ended on court one. Florida’s team of Jefferson and senior Tanapatt Nirundorn kept coming to meet the Bulls’ points. USF graduate Hugo Car and junior James Newton fought back throughout the game, but the match ultimately went unfinished, favoring Florida 5-2.
With the first singles match games beginning, all of the Gators started strong, but the Bulls continued to fight back. Several first sets came down to the wire, with courts one, two and five going to a tiebreaker.
UF lost two of three of its first game tiebreakers, and Jefferson was the only one to walk out with a victory in his tiebreaker.
Nirundorn faced USF sophomore Stepan Mruzek and took the lead early, but the pace soon slowed. The match favored Mruzek, who won the tiebreaker 7-6 and the second set 6-4 for a crucial USF point.
Edengren was the first Gator to fall in the dual match, losing 6-2 and 6-3 to USF senior Agustin Cuellar.
Meanwhile, Claverie and Car battled it out, reaching a deciding tiebreaker in their first set. Claverie fell in the first set 7-6 and 6-3 in the second set.
Perez Ramos won in a straight-set win in his first singles match as a Gator. His first set was 6-0, followed by 6-1, being the first Gator to contribute to the overall dual match points.
Timini also won straight sets with a 6-3 and 6-2 victory, respectively. Jefferson, down a majority of set one, clawed back up to win 7-6. It was up to him to clutch the game and secure the win for the Gators. He fell in his second set 7-5, but he was not affected by the pressure, completing his third-set heroics and clinching UF’s victory.
Florida’s next matchup with Georgia Southern was canceled, so the Gators will instead resume play against Kentucky during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Championship Qualifiers at 11 a.m. on Friday in Columbia, New York.
Contact Ethan Feinberg at efeinberg@alligator.org. Follow him on X @thefeinline.
