Florida Gators
Gator Invitational - MSU
Day 1 of Men's Tennis Gator Invitational Concludes
Saturday, September 27, 2003 | Men's Tennis
The first day of play at the Gator Men's Tennis Invitational endured several rain delays, as the action finally completed at 8 p.m. Friday evening underneath the covered Ring Tennis Pavilion. Athletes from Florida, Miami, Mississippi State and USF endured the long day of action.
Four of the five Gators who competed were freshmen, making their first appearances on their home courts in Gainesville.
"There were so many new guys for both teams on the court so it's really hard to tell how we did," UF head coach Andy Jackson said. "Overall, I thought we fought hard and we're definitely making progress."
Recording singles victories for the Gators were a pair of rookies. Vladimir Obradovic (Blegrade, Serbia) and Stefan Tell (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) won their respective matches, while Chris Brandi (Boca Raton, Fla.) dropped a tough three-set decision and Martin Stiegwardt (Quito, Ecuador) fell at the No. 2 court.
Obradovic defeated Joese-Carlos Pinto 6-3, 6-2 on court No. 1, while Tell downed Matt Armstrong 6-0, 6-2 on court No. 5.
"Vladimir was pretty dominant in his first college match and I was encouraged by what I saw," Jackson said.
Brandi lost 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 to Max Fomine, who used a blazing first serve in the third set to seal the victory. The Bulldogs also received singles wins from Luiz Carvalho and Florent Girod, who respectively defeated Stiegwardt 6-0, 6-2 and Trey Johnson (Gainesville, Fla.) 6-2, 6-3.
After doubles teams from Florida and Mississippi State earned a victory, members from the two schools began singles action against each other. However, just two games into the opening set, a steady rain began to fall, halting all action for approximately 45 minutes. Play finally resumed inside the Pavilion, UF's covered facility featuring three courts.
In doubles action, the Gator team of Chris Brandi and Martin Stiegwardt were in control of their entire match against Matt Armstrong and Florent Girod, dominating from the opening serve en route to the 8-2 victory.
The other UF doubles team in action was the pair of Trey Johnson and Vladimir Obradovic. The Gator duo was down a break against MSU's Luiz Carvalho and Joese-Carlos Pinto for the entire match until the 10th game, when the UF tandem evened the score at 5-all. But Johnson quickly fell behind 0-40 on his serve and the Bulldogs regained the break advantage. Each team then held serve and MSU was serving for the match, but the Gators dug deep and earned a break in the 14th game. However, the Bulldogs broke right back after again jumping out to a 0-40 lead on Johnson's serve and then serving out for the 9-7 win.
Athletes from Miami and USF faced each other Friday morning, with the Hurricanes winning five of the six singles matches and the Bulls winning two of the three doubles matches played.
Action involving all four teams continues Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at the Ring Tennis Complex. Florida will take on players from USF, while athletes from Miami and Mississippi State will meet. On Sunday, UF and Miami athletes will square off, while members from Mississippi State and USF match up. Admission for the entire Invitational is free.
2003 Gator Men's Tennis Invitational
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Friday, September 26, 2003
Complete Results, Day 1
Doubles
Luiz Carvalho/Joese-Carlos Pinto (Miss. State) d. Trey Johnson/Vladimir Obradovic (UF) 9-7
Chris Brandi/Martin Stiegwardt (UF) d. Matt Armstrong/Florent Girod (Miss. State) 8-2
Tim Krebs/Colin Purcell (Miami) def. Paco Antelo/Renato Silveira (USF), 8-5
Udi Kiendl/Karim Benmansour (USF) def. Josh Cohen/Eric Hetchman (Miami), 8-1
Federico Barton/Juan Barragan (USF) def. Jonathan Ounjian/John Hoyes II (Miami), 8-6
Singles
Vladimir Obradovic (UF) def. Joese-Carlos Pinto (Miss. State) 6-3, 6-2
Luiz Carvalho (Miss. State) def. Martin Stiegwardt (UF) 6-0, 6-2
Florent Girod (Miss. State) def. Trey Johnson (UF) 6-2, 6-3
Max Fomine (Miss. State) def. Chris Brandi (UF) 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2
Stefan Tell (UF) vs. Matt Armstrong (Miss. State) 6-0, 6-2
Tim Krebs (Miami) def. Paco Antelo (USF) 7-6, 6-1
Josh Cohen (Miami) def. Karim Benmansour (USF) 6-4, 6-4
Eric Hechtman (Miami) def. Renato Silvira (USF) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Federico Barton (USF) def. Colin Purcell (Miami) 6-4, 6-4
John Hoyess II (Miami) def. Matias Sigal (USF) 7-6, 7-6
Jonathan Ounjian (Miami) def. German Escallon (USF) 6-3, 6-2
END OF REPORT
