After a slow start to the fall season, Florida men’s tennis bounced back with a successful performance at the Bedford Cup over the weekend. Four Gators represented Florida, securing 12 singles victories and three doubles wins.
Freshman Alaa Trifi and Roman Sancilio were the Gators’ top performers, finishing 6-1 overall during the tournament.
The Bedford Cup began Friday at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, with 65 players from eight schools competing.
Freshman Ty Host kicked it off for Florida with a 6-3 straight-set victory against Florida State rival Oren Ezerzer in the round of 32. He advanced to the quarterfinals with a hard-fought 6-7, 7-6, 10-5 win over Florida Gulf Coast junior Tanner Povey. His singles run ended when Central Florida junior Clement Lemire beat him in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
Trifi had better success as he advanced to the semifinal. The Tunisian secured his first victory of the tournament against Florida Atlantic University senior Mark Havlicek, 6-4, 6-1, and he continued his dominance with a 6-0, 6-4 straight-set win over South Florida sophomore Timeo Gaillard. In the quarterfinals, Trifi dismantled FAU junior Roman Venger 6-3, 6-4.
Trifi tried to avenge Host in the semifinals, but he also suffered his first loss of the tournament at the hands of Lemire. Though he took the first-set tiebreaker, Trifi fell to the UCF junior in a harsh 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-10 battle.
For Richmond native Sancilio, the tournament started much easier, with a round-of-32 bye in the red flight. His first competition was a 6-3, 6-1 straight-set victory over West Florida junior Mark Neyelov, and the redshirt freshman continued to dominate. He bested West Florida sophomore Samuel Vidales 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, and Sancilio continued his control with a win over South Florida’s Artem Lyapshin, 7-6, 6-2. Sancilio’s strong run eventually came to an end in the final as he fell 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 to FGCU sophomore Stefan Correa.
Timini was the only Gator to drop his main-draw opener, falling 6-4, 6-7, 5-10 to FGCU senior Hugo Magnusson. The sophomore avenged the loss with a perfect 4-0 run in the consolation bracket, though. He first defeated UCF sophomore Fadi Bidan 6-2, 7-6, then Havlicek 7-5, 3-6, 10-7. Timini also bested USF junior Stephan Mruzek in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. The Cypriot finished the singles portion with a 6-1, 6-1 straight-set victory over USF senior James Newton.
The Gators only lost four of 16 singles matches, and they showed that same dominance in the doubles portion.
The freshman duo of Sancilio and Trifi proved too much to handle as they went undefeated across three matches. They beat the USF duo of Gaillard and Leo Galliano 7-6 and the pair of Newton and Lyapshin 6-0. They also defeated FAU duo Lucca Pignaton and Seovia Perez 6-3.
Timini and Host were the only Gators to lose in doubles, falling 7-6(5) to FAU’s Havlicek and Marek Pazdera.
Florida looks to continue its hot streak at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Southeast Regional Championships hosted by Georgia Tech on Oct. 14-19, where it aims to qualify for the NCAA Championships later this spring.
Contact Ethan Feinberg at efeinberg@alligator.org. Follow him on X @thefeinline.
Ethan Feinberg is a senior sports journalism student in his third semester at The Alligator. He is currently the Fall 2026 men’s tennis reporter. 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.)
