For the third time this season, the 12th-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team overcame dropping the doubles point to earn a victory as the Gators worked their way past Auburn, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville. With the victory, UF moved to 11-6 on the season and 5-3 in Southeastern Conference play. Auburn slipped to 9-8 overall and 3-5 in the league.
The match began with UF losing the doubles point for the seventh time this season. UF's Vladimir Obradovic and Ryan Sherry paired for UF's only victory on the doubles courts with an 8-5 victory against Auburn's Pawel Dilaj and Nick Lane on court three. The win was the UF tandems second in as many outings.
In singles, the Gators jumped to a 3-1 lead with straight set victories on courts four, five and two. Senior Stefan Tell (No. 100) handed Milan Kmjetin a 6-0, 6-4 defeat in just over an hour to even the match at one. With his win, Tell improved to 5-0 this season on court four.
Redshirt senior Chris Brandi won for the fourth time in his last five outings as he posted a 6-1, 6-3 score against Dilaj one court lower in the lineup before sophomore Greg Ouellette got the Gators to within one of clinching the match with a 6-3, 6-4 showing against Robbert Lathouwers on court two for his fourth consecutive victory.
Each of the remaining three courts would go into third sets before Obradovic clinched the victory by outlasting Alex Schweizer at the top of the order (4-6, 6-4, 6-2). The UF senior owns a 3-1 record since moving to the number one court on March 24.
Florida will return to the courts for its final road swing of the regular season as it next visits Vanderbilt on April 7 at 2 p.m. in Nashville, Tenn.
#12 Florida vs. #48 Auburn
Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Doubles
Robbert Lathouwers/Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Stefan Tell/Nestor Briceno (UF), 8-4
Terrance Nugent/Alex Schweizer (AU) def. Chris Brandi/Greg Ouellette (UF), 8-6
Vladimir Obradovic/Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Pawel Dilaj/Nick Lane (AU), 8-5
Order of Finish – 1, 2, 3
Singles
No. 95 Vladimor Obradovic (UF) def. Alex Schweizer (AU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
No. 32 Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Robbert Lathouwers (AU), 6-3, 6-4
Nick Lane (AU) def. No. 38 Nestor Briceno (UF), 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
No. 100 Stefan Tell (UF) def. Milan Kmjetin (AU), 6-0, 6-4
Chris Brandi (UF) def. Pawel Dilaj (AU), 6-1, 6-3
Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Ryan Sherry (UF), 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (WD)
Order of Finish – 4, 5, 2, 3, 1, 6
