The third-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team won its 52nd consecutive regular-season home match with a 7-0 shutout over Auburn on Sunday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
Fueled by one of the most complete doubles efforts of the season, the Gators improved to 15-1 overall and 6-1 in Southeastern Conference action, while the Tigers dropped to 9-7 overall and 3-5 in league play. Other highlights from the match included the gutty comeback by senior Nina Suvak, won posted her 15th consecutive singles victory and the solid play of freshman Anastasia Revzina, who tallied her 10th straight win.
"Our doubles play was very good today," Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "It's been a while since we've had all three teams play at a high level during the same match, so I was really happy with what I saw from them. Physically, we're finally at the point where we are as fit as we should be and that showed in our play. Diana (Srebrovic) is in much better condition now than a month ago and it shows. Nina (Suvak) didn't play real well today, but she's so strong and tough that she found a way to win. That same thing goes for Whitney (Benik), who was able to play through a tough day on the court and get the win."
Paired for the just the fourth time this season, freshman Csilla Borsanyi and junior Diana Srebrovic earned their biggest win of the year, defeating 16th-ranked Alex Haney and Melissa Koning, 8-1, and gave the Gators their first victory of the day. UF's No. 3 tandem of Lolita Frangulyan and Revzina then defeated Kelly Adams and Jil Hastenrath, 8-2 to clinch the doubles point. Whitney Benik and Suvak completed the doubles sweep with their 8-3 decision on court No. 2.
Borsanyi ripped through the first set of her No. 4 singles match against Whitney Chappell in 23 minutes, eventually earning the 6-0, 6-1 victory in 55 minutes to give the Gators a 2-0 lead. Chappell avoided the double-bagel by breaking the Florida rookie to open the second set, but Borsanyi broke right back and cruised to her 20th singles win of the season.
Srebrovic, ranked 39th, then battled past 30th-ranked Fani Chifchieva 6-2, 6-2 on the showcase court to spot Florida a 3-0 advantage. Six of the eight games in the second set were breaks, but the Gator junior prevailed by holding serve in the other two games to capture the victory.
"I think I've finally turned the corner and am starting to play a little bit better," Srebrovic said. "I feel like I've been in a slump for a little while so it's nice to start winning again."
Frangulyan provided the clinching dual match win after topping Kelly Adams 6-1, 6-0 in one hour and 12 minutes. In a match that was tougher than the final score might indicate, the Gator junior lost her serve in the sixth game of the first set to just miss the double-bagel decision.
Revzina earned a hard-fought 6-4, 6-1 victory over Melissa Koning at the No. 3 position to collect her 10th consecutive singles win. Revzina and Koning began the match with seven straight breaks before the Gator rookie broke the trend and held to take a 5-3 lead, later serving out for the first set. Revzina jumped out to a two-break, 3-0 lead in the second before Koning got the board. Revzina broke right back, winning the final three games to take the match in one hour and 34 minutes.
Auburn's Alex Haney had her way with Nina Suvak during the first set on court No. 2, before the Gator senior found her stroke. The second frame was on-serve through five games before Suvak broke in the sixth and held to take a 5-2 lead. But Haney kept her composure and broke Suvak in the ninth game and held to tie the set at 5-all, eventually leading to a tiebreaker, where Suvak earned a mini-break when Haney's backhand sailed long and took a 4-2 lead. Haney got the breaker back on-serve with a winner on the eighth point, but Suvak earned one more mini-break on the 10th point and closed it out on her first set point. In the 10-point super tiebreaker, Suvak had the serve with an 8-5 lead, but Haney stole the next two points before Suvak returned the favor and closed the match with a pair of mini-breaks to extend her singles win streak to 15.
Whitney Benik emerged after two hours and 14 minutes with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Jil Hastenrath to conclude the day's play. The two-set match featured 16 service breaks, with Benik fighting off three set points in the 10th game of the second frame to even the set at 5-all before taking the final two games.
The Gators hit the road for their next two matches, both of which will have significant implications toward determining the SEC regular-season champion. On Friday, Florida travels to Vanderbilt before playing at Kentucky on Sunday. Entering next weekend's play, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina all hold a 7-1 SEC record, while the Gators sit a half-match back at 6-1.
Women's College Tennis
No. 37 Auburn at No. 3 Florida
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Final Score: Florida 7, Auburn 0
Doubles
No. 1 Csilla Borsanyi/Diana Srebrovic, UF d. Alex Haney/Melissa Koning (16), AU 8-1
No. 2 Whitney Benik/Nina Suvak (t-59), UF d. Whitney Chappell/Fani Chifchieva, AU 8-3
No. 3 Lolita Frangulyan/Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Kelly Adams/Jil Hastenrath, AU 8-2*
Singles
No. 1 Diana Srebrovic (39), UF d. Fani Chifchieva (30), AU 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Nina Suvak (82), UF d. Alex Haney, AU 1-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (10-7)
No. 3 Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Melissa Koning, AU 6-4, 6-1
No. 4 Csilla Borsanyi (56), UF d. Whitney Chappell, AU 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 Whitney Benik, UF d. Jil Hastenrath, AU 6-4, 7-5
No. 6 Lolita Frangulyan, UF d. Kelly Adams, AU 6-1, 6-0*
Order of Finish: Doubles-1, 3, 2; Singles-4, 1, 6, 3, 2, 5
END OF REPORT
