No. 8 Men's Tennis Opens Spring Season at SEC Coaches' Indoor Championships
Thursday, January 12, 2012 | Men's Tennis
The University of Florida men's tennis team, ranked eighth in the preseason Men's National Team Rankings by the ITA, will open the 2012 spring season in Lexington, Ky., this weekend at the SEC Coaches' Indoor Championships. The event will serve as the final tune-up before the dual-match season begins at Baylor on January 22.
The Gators will have eight players participating in this weekend's tournament, including three players seeded in the top 16. Junior Bob van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) is the No. 10 seed and sophomore Spencer Newman (Miami, Fla.) is the No. 11 seed. Both players have a bye in the first round. Van Overbeek is ranked No. 69 in the ITA singles rankings while Newman is ranked No. 84 to open the season.
Newcomer Florent Diep, a mid-year enrollee from Paris, France, is the No. 14 seed and will face South Carolina's Kyle Koch in the opening round. Sophomore Andrew Butz (Vero Beach, Fla.), ranked No. 102 to open the season, will take on Kentucky's Ryuji Hirooka on Friday.
Senior Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) will play Georgia's Nathan Pasha in the first round. Sophomore Michael Alford (Tampa, Fla.) and juniors Billy Federhofer (North Miami, Fla.) and Tripper Carleton (Naples, Fla.) are also playing in the tournament. Alford will play UGA's KU Singh while Federhofer opens against Joe Rogers from Ole Miss and Carleton will play USC's Thiago Pinheiro.
All eight players will also compete in the doubles draw.
Results will be posted at the conclusion of play each day. More tournament information and schedules can be found online here: http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/011112aaa.html
