Following a loss to. No. 1 Texas, Florida men’s tennis was looking to bounce back with just three days remaining before the start of the SEC tournament, a task it was able to complete with singles dominance in Fayetteville.
Early, the No. 36 Arkansas Razorbacks were able to seize momentum, capturing the doubles point to begin competition. But the Gators bounced back, crushing the Razorbacks in singles play en route to a 4-1 victory.
The Gators were able to take one doubles win behind the No. 9 pair in the nation, Henry Jefferson and Tanapatt Nirudorn. The two bested Arkansas’ Ben Weintraub and Eric Padgham 6-4 overall.
However, in the other two matches, the Gators were unable to generate the same momentum.
The No. 85 Arkansas duo of Dmitry Kopilevich and Brendan Boland was able to snatch momentum back from the Gators, narrowly edging out Adhithya Ganesan and Pablo Perez Ramos. After trading blows throughout the early period, Arkansas was able to win 7-6, giving Arkansas two of three doubles matches.
Arkansas’ Lukas Palovic and Connor Smillie held firm control of their match with Florida’s Kevin Edengren and Andreas Timini. The Razorbacks seized control early and never let it leave their grasp, securing a 6-1 victory.
In singles, the story was different.
Florida got hot quick. Adhithya Ganesan’s match with Lukas Palovic would end with Ganesan taking set one 6-4 and set two 6-1, securing the Gators first singles victory.
The second would come from redshirt senior Pablo Perez Ramos. Ramos was able to defeat Dmitry Kopilevich, getting revenge for his doubles match against Kopilevich earlier in the day. Ramos took the first set 6-3 and followed it up with a 6-2 victory in the next for a swift win and an early 2-0 lead overall for Florida in singles.
For Gator junior Henry Jefferson, who had helped give Florida its only doubles win of the day, early adversity was present. In his match with Arsene Pougault. Pougalt was able to take the first set of a tightly contested match, edging out Jefferson 7-5.
The third consecutive victory for Florida would come from junior Kevin Edengren. Edengren took both sets 6-4 and 6-3, respectively, against Arkansas sophomore Brendan Boland.
Senior Lorenzo Claverie, who faced off with a former Gator, sophomore Ben Weintraub, helped continue the Gators’ onslaught. Claverie’s 6-3 victory in set one and 6-4 victory in set two gave Florida a 4-0 record in singles and another win before a third set could begin.
Up next for the Gators is the start of the SEC Tournament, which will begin April 15 and run through April 19 in College Station, Texas.
Contact Logan McBride at lmcbride@alligator.org. Follow him on X @LoganDMcBride.
Logan McBride is a journalism junior and a Spring 2026 track and field reporter. In his free time, he enjoys watching TV shows or playing basketball at Southwest Rec. He is also a big football fan and will die for Dak Prescott.
