Florida loses heartbreaker in ITA Kickoff Championship
By Victor Prieto | Jan. 28, 2019Almost.
Almost.
The clock struck 10:26 p.m. on Sunday, and the Gators men’s tennis team had finally clinched a 4-1 victory over Florida Atlantic University to claim the ITA Kickoff Weekend title and earn a spot in the ITA National Indoor Championships in Chicago.
The Gators women’s tennis team began the ITA Kickoff Weekend Saturday afternoon against UC Santa Barbara at the Ring Tennis Complex.
Both the Gators women’s and men’s tennis teams are back in action for the opening weekend of the spring season at home in the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The men’s team will open its 2019 campaign against William & Mary at 11 a.m., while the women’s team will take on UC Santa Barbara at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Cheers echoed all night long through the Ring Tennis Complex. After backhand winners. After decisive break points. And after the final match point.
It took just three days for freshman Marlee Zein to make an immediate impact for the Florida Gators tennis team.
Oliver Crawford had redemption on his mind this past weekend.
The fall season for the UF women’s tennis team ended on the sweet note of victory.
Hall-of-Fame catcher Yogi Berra once said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” He was referring to when Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle would hit consecutive home runs, but decades later, the same can be said about UF’s women’s tennis team at the Seminole All-Conference Showdown.
The doubles court highlighted the Seminole All-Conference Showdown for the Gators, which helped to offset a lackluster day of singles play.
Ida Jarlskog was outgunned on paper entering the match. She was taking on the singles draw’s top-seeded player in Vanderbilt’s Fernanda Contreras. The Swede immediately looked out of sorts after losing the first set 1-6.
Ida Jarlskog and McCartney Kessler had been the Gators’ women’s tennis team’s best players all fall. The two easily sliced through the ITA Southeastern Regional like a hot knife through butter, with Jarlskog defeating Kessler in the finals of that tournament.
Women’s team rebounds after tough opening day
One of the reasons junior Tsveta Dimitrova wanted to transfer to the University of Florida was to challenge herself.
Oliver Crawford dominated the USA F28 Futures from start to finish. The sophomore lost just one set in five matches en route to a two-set victory in the final over Great Britain’s Andrew Watson to claim the Harlingen 25k singles title.
For the second time this season the Florida men’s tennis team is in two places at once.
Oliver Crawford and Andy Andrade were in position to move on to the finals of the men’s main doubles draw Sunday afternoon. The duo swept through their first three rounds at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, setting up a matchup with Alex Kobelt and Kyle Seelig of Ohio State.
The UF women’s tennis team suffered a loss in both the singles and doubles draws in the ITA All-American Championships qualifying rounds Wednesday, as it was bounced from the tournament hosted at Pepperdine University.
Oliver Crawford and Andy Andrade made it into the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships on Tuesday night.
The Florida men’s tennis team did not fare well in the pre-qualifying round of the ITA All-American Championships.