1999 Gator Tennis Invitational - Day 3

Sunday, October 31, 1999 | Men's Tennis

By: Kathy Cafazzo

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The University of Florida men's tennis team looked impressive during the final day of competition at the Gator Invitational, winning seven of nine total matches against Auburn at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.

The Gators began the day with three convincing doubles victories.

"We played doubles today the way it should be played," UF head coach Ian Duvenhage said. "I really felt like our guys did a good job of improving throughout the tournament. We continued to learn and that's a very positive and encouraging sign. We're definitely making progress."

In singles action, the Gators took four of six matches from the Tigers, winning at Flights 1, 2, 4 and 5. Jeff Morrison capped the weekend with a perfect 3-0 singles record and a 3-0 doubles mark, including Sunday's 6-4, 6-4 victory over Mark Kovacs after pairing with Dylan Mann and downing Kovacs and Tiago Ruffoni 8-6 in doubles play.

Marcos Asse won a hard-fought battle at Flight 5, defeating Andre Boz 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 after falling behind 3-0 in the second set.

"What Marcos did today was very impressive," Duvenhage said. "He fought hard and that's what we wanted to see."

After losing on Friday, Justin O'Neal bounced back during the final two days of the tournament, dominating Tiago Ruffoni 6-1, 6-1 at Flight 2. Freshman Matt Behrmann also posted his second win of the tournament with Sunday's 6-1, 6-4 victory over Julien Curatella in Flight 4 action today.

The Gators conclude their fall season next weekend, competing in the Rolex Regional Qualifying tournament November 4 to 7.

1999 Gator Invitational
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
October 29-31, 1999

Participating Teams: Miami, Auburn, South Florida and Florida

Results for Oct. 31

Doubles

Flight 1
Dylan Mann -Jeff Morrison, UF d. Mark Kovacs-Tiago Ruffoni, AU 8-6
Stephen Capriati-Fabio Tintori, USF d. Arpad Odry- Mike Lang, UM 8-2

Flight 2
Peter Hoffman-Jose Lieberman, UM d. Eric Gildhorn-Abhijit Shah, USF 8-5
Matt Behrmann-Justin O'Neal, UF d. Marcel Mizerski-Raltis Tukans, AU 8-4

Flight 3
Boris Babic-Aleks Popovic, USF d. Mark Arrowsmith-Joel Berman, UM 8-5
Marcos Asse- Trey Adcock, UF d. Julien Curatella-Estevam Strecker, AU 8-6

Singles

Flight 1
Jeff Morrison, UF d. Mark Kovacs, AU 6-4, 6-4
Peter Hoffman, UM d. Boris Babic, USF 6-2, 6-3

Flight 2
Justin O'Neal, UF d. Tiago Ruffoni, AU 6-1, 6-1
Fabio Tintori, USF d. Jamin Thompson, UM 6-7, 6-3, 6-2

Flight 3
Estevam Strecker, AU d. Dylan Mann, UF 6-4, 7-6
Stephen Capriati, USF d. Arpad Odry, UM 6-4, 1-6, 6-1

Flight 4
Aleks Popovic, USF d. Mike Lang, UM 6-2, 1-0 def.
Matt Behrmann, UF d. Julien Curatella, AU 6-1, 6-4

Flight 5
Marcos Asse, UF d. Andre Boz, AU 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Jose Lieberman, UM d. Abhijit Shah, USF 6-0, 6-1

Flight 6
Raltis Tukans, AU d. Trey Adcock, UF 1-6, 6-1, 6-1
Johan Lindqvist, UM d. Eric Gildhorn, USF 6-4, 6-3