The No. 8 Gators men’s tennis team did something on Sunday it hadn’t done in nine years: Start SEC play 5-0.
Florida improved to 12-2 overall after a 5-2 win over No. 22 Tennessee on Sunday at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville. In 2010, it started 7-0 and finished second in the conference.
With the loss, the Volunteers fell to 11-5 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
The Gators began the match by losing the doubles point for the third time in four matches. Sophomore Oliver Crawford and freshman Sam Riffice fell 6-4 after winning against Georgia on Friday. This was just their second loss of the season together and Crawford’s first ever doubles loss in SEC play.
Sophomore Duarte Vale and senior McClain Kessler couldn’t defeat Tennessee’s Timo Stodder and Preston Touliatos, and the Volunteers took the point.
UF bounced back in singles once again, winning four of the six first sets.
Vale was the first to respond, with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Martim Prata on court six.
No. 48 Riffice improved to 5-0 in conference play and won his sixth match in a row, outlasting Scott Jones 6-3, 6-4 in a straight-set win.
Tennessee briefly tied the match when No. 93 Adam Walton upset No. 54 sophomore Andy Andrade in straight sets. Crawford gave the Gators the lead back with a 6-2, 7-5 win over No. 59 Stodder. This was Crawford’s third-straight singles win over a ranked opponent.
Attention turned to Courts 4 and 5 where freshman Lukas Greif and junior Johannes Ingildsen were involved in tight three-set matches. Greif prevailed over Luca Wiedenmann 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 and clinched the match for the Gators for the second time this season. Seconds later, Ingildsen sealed his and Florida’s win with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Touliatos.
Follow Noah Ram on Twitter @noah_ram1 and contact him at nram@alligator.org.
Oliver Crawford got his third-straight singles win over a ranked opponent in Sunday's 5-2 win over No. 22 Tennessee.
Noah is a third year journalism-sports and media student from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has been with The Alligator since Spring 2019 and has covered men’s and women’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. When he isn’t on his beat, Noah is usually sadden over his beloved South Florida sports teams, such as the Heat and Dolphins.
