Florida Gators
Illinois
Florida Men?s Tennis Falls To No. 5 Illinois, 7-0
Sunday, February 13, 2005 | Men's Tennis
For the first time this season, the third-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team was defeated as the Gators fell, 7-0, to fifth-ranked Illinois Saturday night in Champaign, Ill. The match took place inside the Atkins Tennis Center, which continued to be an obstacle for the Gators as eight of Florida's 14 losses since 2003 have come when the match finished indoors. With the loss, UF fell to 4-1 on the year while the Illini moved to 5-0.
For the second time on the season, the Gators dropped the doubles point when Illinois' Ryler DeHeart and Kevin Anderson teamed at the top of the order to defeat Florida's Hamid Mirzadeh and Chris Brandi, 8-4. The Illini got the point when Evan Zeder and Pramod Debir edged UF's Ryan Sherry and Jordan Dolberg on court three, 9-7. The loss was the first the Gator duo has had this season.
Anderson made it a 2-0 Illini lead when he defeated Greg Ouellette (No. 47), 6-4, 6-3. The two freshmen, which have both been named players of the week by their conference this season already, squared off on court three.
One court higher in the lineup, DeHeart (ranked second nationally) got Illinois to within one of clinching the match when he outlasted UF's 63rd-ranked Vladimir Obradovic in the first set, 7-6 (4), before going on to take the second set, 6-3.
Illinois' Ruban Gonzales provided the match winner on court six with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Dolberg. The loss was the first the Gators have suffered on that court this season. With the issue no longer in doubt, Illinois went on to pick up wins on each of the remaining singles courts.
Florida returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 17, as the Gators travel to Chicago, Ill., for the ITA National Team Indoors. The Gators open play against Harvard at 10 a.m. ET.
Singles
1 No. 42 G.D. Jones (Ill) def. Hamid Mirzadeh, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
2 No. 2 Ryler DeHeart (Ill.) def. No. 63 Vladimir Obradovic (UF), 7-6 (4), 6-3
3 Kevin Anderson (Ill.) def. No. 47 Greg Ouellette (UF), 6-4, 6-3
4 Monte Tucker (Ill.) def. No. 46 Nestor Briceno (UF), 6-7, 7-6 (5), 10-8
5 Ryan Rowe (Ill) def. Ryan Sherry (UF), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
6 Jordan Dolberg (UF) vs. Ruban Gonzales (Ill), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Order of Finish – 3, 2, 6, 5, 1, 4
Doubles
1 DeHeart/Anderson (Ill.) def. Mirzadeh/Brandi (UF), 8-4
2 Rowe/Jones (Ill.) def. Ouellette/Tell (UF), 8-6
3 Zeder/Debir (Ill) def. Sherry/Dolberg (UF), 9-7
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
