After suffering a heavy loss in its first home game of the Southeastern Conference stretch, Florida looked to move past that and celebrate two things: an upset win and a special birthday on Friday.
As a rainbow shone over the courts, the Gators looked to capitalize on the sign of good luck.
But it did not come as Florida (7-7, 1-4 SEC) fell to Texas A&M (10-5, 3-2 SEC) at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex on Friday night. The Aggies won four straight singles to hand Florida its second home conference loss, 4-1.
After a slow start full of unforced errors in doubles, the Gators clawed back up to take the point. Prior to Friday’s match, the Gators were 5-0 when they secured the doubles point, but Texas A&M snapped that streak.
“I think we go for too much too soon, and we beat ourselves a lot of times,” said Florida head coach Adam Steinberg.
It first started on court one, as a lineup change favored Florida. For 10 consecutive matches, junior Henry Jefferson and senior Lorenzo Claverie had played in the first doubles position. On Friday, that changed as the Gators faced a tough No. 29 Aggie senior and sophomore doubles pairing of Togan Tokac and Theo Papamalamis. Florida combated with its own No. 20 senior-junior duo of Tanapatt Nirundorn and Jefferson. The switch worked as they notched two clutch deuce points and showed out for a 6-4 win.
“We just needed a spark, and we needed a change,” Steinberg said. “I really liked the change and the guys did too. They were ready for it.”
On court three, two freshman-junior duos battled. Freshman Andreas Timini and junior Kevin Edengren outlasted freshman Markus Molder and junior Tiago Pires. Unforced errors got to the Gators early, but with a dangerous deuce point, the duo stood tall at the net and survived the powerful return blasts, rallying for a 2-3 set win to stay close behind. From there, the Gators jumped ahead. They took the second victory 7-6 (7-2) and grabbed the first doubles point win in over four games.
Seniors Pablo Perez Ramos and Lorenzo Claverie battled their opponents, but they fell early. The seniors bounced back for an unfinished 5-5 match, but it didn’t help Florida in the end.
“We took a whole practice Wednesday and did doubles for two and a half hours. It was a point of emphasis for sure,” Steinberg said. “We need to become dominant in doubles to achieve what we want to.”
Just like doubles, the singles started poorly for Florida. Only two players had a positive first set.
Nirundorn rode the strong doubles finish into his singles match as he went up 6-2 in the first set. Molder applied the pressure in the second set, taking it 7-6 (7-2). Nirundorn swung right back, but his match ultimately went unfinished as the Aggies secured the win.
As the game stretched, there was hope for the Gators. No. 31 Ramos fell deep to No. 86 sophomore Alex Frusina in the first set, 6-2. The Spaniard resisted with a crucial 7-6 second-set win, but with Frusina’s dominant 6-2 win, the game was over.
“He’s injured out there with his wrist, and he’s still battling and fighting, to get through that second set was unbelievable and was a huge lift to the team, " Steinberg said.
Claverie dominated Pires 6-1 in the first set. The Aggie evened the match and forced a tiebreaker set, which he won 7-6(7-2). His match was also left unfinished.
While No. 50 Jefferson faced numerous questionable calls, he didn’t back down in the face of No. 64 Papamalamis. After falling early, 6-4, he tried to fight back but was packed up 6-2.
Timini followed soon after losing 7-5 and 6-4 to junior Lathan Skrobarcek.
Edengren also succumbed to a 6-2 first set loss as Tokac called their match with a commanding 6-0 second set.
Still with no wins at home during the SEC stretch, the Gators look for their first against No. 7 Texas Christian University at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
Contact Ethan Feinberg at efeinberg@alligator.org. Contact him on X @thefeinline.
Ethan Feinberg is a senior sports journalism student and the Spring 2026 men’s tennis reporter. He has previously written stories and produced audio sessions for WRUF, covering high school football. Ethan enjoys watching and playing sports like football and basketball, working out, fishing, cooking, and having a good laugh with his friends and family. His favorite sports teams are the New England Patriots, Miami Heat, Florida Panthers, and the Miami Marlins. (Drake "Drake Maye" Maye is the GOAT.)
