Though the Florida men’s tennis team enters the weekend competing in a tournament for the fifth time this fall, it will still face a new challenge to overcome—playing on a clay court.
After competing in 36 NCAA singles matches, Florida junior Florent Diep won his first tournament championship on Monday.
Despite positing a 66-19 career singles record, Florida junior Alexander Cercone has hasn’t duplicated that kind of success in her junior season.
Florida senior Lauren Embree was the No. 1 recruit coming out of high school, won two Southeastern Conference Player of the Year awards and secured the Gators’ national championship with a comeback victory in 2011.
Florida Gator Lauren Embree advanced to the round of 16 last season in the Riviera/ITA All-American Tournament before losing out to 35th-ranked Petra Niedermayerova of Kansas State, 6-1, 6-4. But this year, she has come back with a vengeance.
Florida junior Sofie Oyen and freshman Danielle Collins traveled different roads to get to the qualifying round of the Riviera/ITA All-American Tournament in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Florida junior Olivia Janowicz is off to the best start of her career, and she doesn’t look to be slowing down. In her first six matches, she is undefeated.
Freshman Danielle Collins and junior Olivia Janowicz have still not faced the taste of defeat after going a combined 4-0 in their respective matches in the pre-qualifying round of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championship. After Saturday, both players are 5-0 in singles matches this season.
In only his second collegiate tournament, Gordon Watson is making a strong impression.
Three Gators advanced on the second day at the Bedford Cup, but top-seeded Bob van Overbeek was not one of them. Florida State’s Dominic Controne defeated van Overbeek 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets during the round of 16.
Florida didn’t let rain affect their performance on the tennis court.
Allie Will’s run in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championships came to an end on Sunday when she fell to Stanford’s Nicole Gibbs in three sets.
Since the start of the season, the Gators have had their focus on the postseason. It has been a point of emphasis, and every adjustment the team has made throughout the year was done with the postseason in mind.
Nassim Slilam has a new haircut. He gave up his long hair and took on a much more polished look. Now, he is working on polishing his game.
A shot sails past the baseline. A backhand slams into the net. A second serve lands just out for a double fault.
Even as one of the top teams in the country with some of the top players, No. 2 Florida still sees room for improvement. That’s been the attitude all year for the Gators (15-1, 8-0 Southeastern Conference), but at this point late in the season, getting better isn’t so easy.
The Gators have won 10 consecutive matches, proving worthy of their No. 2 ranking over the last six weeks. Florida (15-1, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) has appeared crisp, composed and confident.
Bob van Overbeek watched as his opponent’s shot slowly bounced in front of him. The junior set his feet, brought his racket back and blasted a thunderous forehand past his helpless opponent.
Surely, the Gators are glad to be done with the month of March. The No. 11 men (11-7, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) had a month full of close matches, many resulting in defeat.
In the minutes after Sunday’s win against Mississippi, Allie Will walked into the conference room of the Ring Tennis Complex to field questions from the media.
Solutions by The State News
