Florida Gators
Kentucky
Men's Tennis Set To Play For SEC Title
Saturday, April 19, 2003 | Men's Tennis
The University of Florida men's tennis punched its ticket into the 2003 SEC Tournament finals as the Gators got by Kentucky, 4-1, on Saturday morning in Oxford, MS. UF now awaits the outcome of Saturday's second match between host Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. Florida will play the winner of that match at 3 p.m. (ET) –
Florida improved its record to 22-3 on the season, while Kentucky fell to 18-11 overall. Florida's appearance in the finals will mark the third in school history, as the Gators have never lost in the championship round. UF first made it in the 1994 season when they edged Mississippi State in Tuscaloosa, 4-3. Florida added another title in 2000 when the outcome of the match was the same against Georgia in Starkville, MS.
Saturday's match was the second meeting this season between Florida and Kentucky. Back on Friday, March 14, UF defeated the then ninth-ranked Wildcats in Gainesville (6-1). In addition, today's match was also a meeting between Kentucky head coach Dennis Emery and Florida's Andy Jackson who played for Emery at Kentucky where he was a letterwinner in 1983 and '84.
Florida took control of the doubles matches early and went on to win the point as it has done against each conference opponent this season. UF's 39th-ranked duo of Olivier Levant and Eleazar Magallan defeated Jesse Witten and Rahim Esmail, 8-3, in 47 minutes. Witten and Esmail came into the match winners of eight of their last nine doubles matches. Hamid Mirzadeh and Chris McDonald, who were playing at the top of the line up, made it a 1-0 Gator advantage with their 8-5 win over Matt Emery and Karim Benmansour.
Florida's 101st-ranked Olivier Levant made it a quick 2-0 advantage with his straight set win over Emery on court four. One spot down the lineup, Behrmann added to the Gator point total with his 6-2, 6-2 victory over Esmail to get Florida within one of the championship match. Witten got Kentucky on the board with his 6-4, 6-4 win over Mirzadeh on court one. However, the Kentucky rally was not to be when Magallan won a lengthy second set tiebreak against Alex Hume, 6-3, 7-6 (7) to end the match.
Florida had trouble against Vanderbilt and Ole Miss during the regular season meetings. On Friday, Feb. 28, the Gators began their SEC slate with a 4-3 win against the Rebels in Oxford. On Sunday, March 16, UF withstood Vanderbilt by the same score in Gainesville.
A third SEC tournament title would give UF the second most among conference members with Georgia owning four.
Florida 4, Kentucky 1
Doubles
Singles
