Men's Tennis Kicks Off Fall Season Hosting Gator Invitational
Thursday, September 16, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The Florida men's tennis Fall season kicks off with UF hosting the Gator Invitational at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex Friday through Sunday this weekend. Heading to Gainesville for the event will be competitors from Central Florida, South Florida, Florida Atlantic and North Florida. Admission to the Gator Invitational is free.
“It's exciting to get another season going,” UF head coach Andy Jackson said. “This event will generate a lot of matches for everyone. We think we have a great group of guys on our team this year, and I'm looking forward to seeing how we compete.”
The event will feature individual head-to-head matches for competitors in both singles and doubles each day. On Friday, action will be divided into two sessions, with the early portion beginning at 10 a.m., followed by a later session at 3 p.m. Gator players' Friday matches will take place at the 3 p.m. start. On Saturday and Sunday, all matches will be played in a single session scheduled for 10 a.m.
The Gators open the individual season with three players ranked in the ITA top-125 rankings. Senior Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France), a returning All-American in both singles and doubles, received a preseason ranking of No. 9, while sophomores Bob van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) both received their first collegiate ranking this preseason, checking in at No. 105 and No. 111, respectively.
On the doubles side, UF has a pair of ranked duos in the preseason top 60. Lacroix and Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) sit at No. 20 in the ITA ratings, while van Overbeek and Bangoura are listed at No. 56.
The Gator Invitational is the first of two individual events UF will host during the Fall season, with the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional scheduled for Oct. 21-25.
