Florida Gators
Georgia
Gator Men's Tennis Edges No. 8 Georgia, 4-3
Saturday, April 2, 2005 | Men's Tennis
After rain in Gainesville forced the remainder of Friday's match against eighth-ranked Georgia to conclude Saturday morning, University of Florida freshman Greg Ouellette came away with a 7-6 (7), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5) decision over No. 68 Antonio Ruiz on court two to propel the Gators to a 4-3 win. The victory was UF's first over a higher ranked opponent this season as UF improved to 14-4 overall and remained the only undefeated team left in SEC play with a 7-0 mark. Florida became the first team this season to defeat the Bulldogs after falling in the doubles as UGA slipped to 13-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
Florida's win was its second in the last six outings against the Bulldogs, which took two over the Gators a season ago including a 4-1 match that halted UF in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
Florida's victory was its ninth in as many outings, which is the longest since the 2000 squad won nine in a row before coming up short to Stanford, 4-0, in the NCAA Championship semifinals. It also matched the longest win streak of UF head coach Andy Jackson's career. Jackson, who began his career as the women's coach at Mississippi State is in his 22nd season of coaching. In 1989, Jackson took over the Bulldog's men's program and went on a 9-0 streak on two occasions (1993 and 1997).
On Friday, Georgia took the doubles point for the 12th time on the season with wins on all three courts. Georgia's Ricardo Gonzales and Matic Omerzel combined to defeat Florida's Ryan Sherry and Jordan Dolberg, 8-4, on court three in 48 minutes. Georgia's 51st-ranked Strahinja Bobusic and Colin Purcell clinched the point for the Bulldogs with an 8-5 decision on court two. Second-ranked John Isner and Antonio Ruiz jumped out to a 4-1 lead on UF's 12th-ranked Hamid Mirzadeh and Greg Ouellette on the top court before the Gator duo came back to push the match into a tiebreaker. However, Georgia's pair came away with a 9-8 (2) victory.
Florida fought back on the singles courts though and improved its record to 5-3 when falling behind 1-0 after the doubles point.
Purcell made it a 2-0 match in Georgia's favor with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Brandi on court five. The loss snapped Brandi's seven-match win streak.
Mirzadeh (No. 58) came away with one of his biggest wins of the dual match season as he defeated No. 13 John Isner on the top court in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. The win was the second top 25 opponent that UF's three-time All-American has defeated this season
UF freshman Nestor Briceno evened the match at two with a straight set win of his own on court four. Briceno took out Bobusic 6-3, 6-4.
Georgia's 61st-ranked Omerzel put the Bulldogs back on top, 3-2, when he outlasted Obradovic on court three, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Obradovic had won five of his last six entering the match.
Sherry evened things at three as he fought past Gonzalez on court six, 7-6 (6), 6-4. The win was Sherry's ninth straight as he owns the best dual match record on the team at 13-2 overall.
Play was suspended at 7:40 p.m. with play remaining only on court two where Ouellette (No. 32) and Ruiz (No. 68) where in the second set. Ouellette had taken the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7), and was behind 5-6 in the set.
After storms went through Gainesville on Friday night, play was resumed at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Ouellette forced a tiebreaker in the second set, however, Ruiz came away with a 7-6 (3) win. Ruiz led the third set at 5-4 and again at 6-5, however, Ouellette forced a tiebreaker where he came out on top, 7-6 (5).
Florida closes out the regular season home schedule on Sunday, April 3 with a 1 p.m. meeting with No. 17 Tennessee.
Florida vs. Georgia
Singles
1 #58 Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) def. #13 John Isner (UGA), 7-5, 6-3
2 #32 Greg Ouellette (UF) def. #68 Antonio Ruiz (UGA), 7-6 (7), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5)
3 #61 Matic Omerzel (UGA) def. # 89T Vladimir Obradovic (UF), 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3
4 Nestor Briceno (UF) def. Strahinja Bobusic (UGA), 6-3, 6-4
5 Colin Purcell (UGA) def. #85 Chris Brandi (UF), 6-3, 6-3,
6 Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Ricardo Gonzalez (UGA), 7-6 (6), 6-4
Order of Finish - 5, 1, 4, 3, 6, 2
Doubles
1 #2 John Isner/Antonio Ruiz (UGA) def. #12 Hamid Mirzadeh/Greg Ouellette (UF), 9-8 (2)
2 # 51 Strahinja Bobusic/Colin Purcell (UGA) def. Vladimir Obradovic/Chris Brandi (UF), 8-5
3 Ricardo Gonzalez/Matic Omerzel (UGA) def. Jordan Dolberg/Ryan Sherry (UF), 8-4
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
