Florida Gators
USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships
Federhofer and Slilam Advance to Semifinals of USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships
Friday, November 4, 2011 | Men's Tennis
The Florida doubles' team of Billy Federhofer (North Miami, Fla.) and Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) earned a spot in the semifinals of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships on Friday, posting a 9-7 win over top-seeded Kevin King and Juan Spir of Georgia Tech. They will face Tulsa's Clifford Marsland and Ashley Watling, the tournament's No. 3 seed, on Saturday.
The Gator duo was down early in the match, 2-1, but won two-straight games to take a 3-2 lead. After swapping games for most of the match, they had a chance to serve it out with a 7-6 lead, but Federhofer couldn't close the door on the Yellow Jackets.
“King didn't miss one return, and usually I at least get some misses,” said Federhofer. “Every time we'd be in a rally, they're so big that they would just cross. There were a few shots that I missed.”
With King on the baseline, the Georgia Tech pair took four-straight deuce points before finally earning the break.
“On the deuce side, it was King returning, with the big guy Spir on top of the net, so it was their best play,” said Slilam. “King is a bit better on the baseline and Spir at the net takes up so much space.”
With the matched tied at 7-7, the Florida pair responded with a break of their own.
“We didn't break [King] once until 7-all. It was good timing,” said Federhofer.
After taking an 8-7 lead, Slilam came up huge with four service winners to close out the match and earn a spot in the semifinals.
“I knew that the first points in the game are huge,” said Slilam. “If you are up 30-Love, as opposed to being down or at 15-all, that's huge because if you play one point well, you can win the match.”
Doubles action will continue on Saturday with the semifinals. Federhofer and Slilam will face Marsland and Watling in the first semifinal with a chance to face the winner of the second semifinal between California's Nick Andrews and Christoffer Konigsfeldt and Ohio State's Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola. The final will be played on Sunday.
Updated draws and live scoring throughout the tournament can be found online via ITAtennis.com.
DOUBLES
First Round – Thursday, 11/3
Billy Federhofer/Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Phil Anderson/Jadon Phillips (New Mexico) 8-4
Round of 16 – Thursday, 11/3
Billy Federhofer/Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Chris Aumueller/Benedikt Lindheim (Nebraska) 8-6
Quarterfinals – Friday, 11/4
Billy Federhofer/Nassim Slilam (UF) def. No. 1 Kevin King/Juan Spir (Georgia Tech) 9-7
Semifinals – Saturday, 11/5
Billy Federhofer/Nassim Slilam (UF) vs. No. 3 Clifford Marsland/Ashley Watling (Tulsa)
