Florida Gators
Troy
Oliver Landert Clinches Match as No. 13 Florida Takes Down Troy, 5-2
Saturday, January 17, 2015 | Men's Tennis
Gainesville, Fla. – Redshirt freshman Oliver Landert's singles victory helped the No. 13-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team topple Troy, 5-2, on Friday afternoon at the Ring Tennis Complex. The Gators improved to 2-0 on the young season.
Although only three doubles matches and six singles matches were to count toward the final score, an extra doubles match and two additional singles were played.
The Gators swept the doubles event in efficient fashion. It only took 25 minutes for No. 32 Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson to defeat Troy's Andre Baldo and Daniel Bustamante, 6-1. No. 49 Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin clinched the doubles point for the Gators with a 6-0 sweep of the Trojans' No. 2 team, Giovani Samaha and Gabriel Dias. Even though the sophomore tandem sealed the doubles deal for the home team, No. 43 Landert and Josh Wardell, as well as Richard Brej and Chase Perez-Blanco played out their matches, winning 6-2 and 6-4, respectively.
No. 81 Orkin created some momentum for Florida in singles with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Andre Baldo in the No. 2 position to give the Gators a 2-0 lead in the match. Freshman Perez-Blanco followed suit, defeating Troy's Andy Lau in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. Shortly after Perez-Blanco put Florida ahead, 3-0, Landert clinched the match at No. 5 singles and propelled the Gators to 4-0, when he defeated the Trojans' Daniel Bustamante, 6-4, 6-2. Freshman Jordan Belga battled back from dropping his first set, 6-7 (2), to earn a hard fought victory over Giovani Samaha.
The Gators return to the Ring Tennis Complex to host Ole Miss, South Carolina and Stanford as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Florida will play Ole Miss on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 11 a.m. and an opponent to be determined on Sunday, Jan. 25 at either 9 a.m. or 11 a.m.
| 2015 University of Florida Men's Tennis | ||||||
| Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex | ||||||
| Gainesville, Florida | ||||||
| Saturday, January 16, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | Troy | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Gordon Watson (32) | Andre Baldo | |||||
| No. 1 - | Diego Hidalgo (32) | Daniel Bustamante | UF | 6-1 (:25) | ||
| Maxx Lipman (49) | Giovani Samaha | |||||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin (49) | Gabriel Dias | UF* | 6-0 (:28) | ||
| Oliver Landert (43) | Hassan Ndayishimye | |||||
| No. 3 - | Josh Wardell (43) | Andy Lau | UF | 6-2 (:30) | ||
|
No. 4 - | Richard Brej Chase Perez-Blanco | Cyprian Owczarz Calum McKinlay | UF | 6-4 (:33) | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | Troy | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Maxx Lipman (34) | Gabriel Dias | Troy | 7-6 (1), 6-1 (1:26) | ||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin (81) | Andre Baldo | UF | 6-2, 6-1 (1:00) | ||
| No. 3 - | Gordon Watson | Hassan Ndayishimye | Troy | 7-6 (5), 3-6, 12-10 (1:42) | ||
| No. 4 - | Chase Perez-Blanco | Andy Lau | UF | 6-1, 6-4 (1:06) | ||
| No. 5 - | Oliver Landert | Daniel Bustamante | UF* | 6-4, 6-2 (1:16) | ||
| No. 6 - | Jordan Belga | Giovani Samaha | UF | 6-7 (2), 6-3, 10-8 (1:47) | ||
| No. 7 - | Josh Wardell | William McClelland | UF | 6-0, 6-2 | ||
| No. 8 - | Richard Brej | Austin Racine | UF | 6-1, 6-3 | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida - 5 | Troy - 2 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 2-0 | Troy 1-0 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 1, 2, 3, 4 | Singles: 2, 4, 5, 1, 3, 6 | ||||
| Attendance: 71 | ||||||
Quotes from the Match
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On the team's display of tenacity in today's match…
Even in our meetings before the match, going over game plans, you could see the look in their eyes that they were excited to play today. I thought we fought really hard throughout and played with good energy. The doubles were excellent up and down the line. I thought it was a big improvement from a week ago. Our identity as a team is a gritty, fighting team and I thought in most cases we really displayed that today.
On the team's attitude in tiebreak situations…
Whenever you cannot create separation from your opponents, and they stay right there with you, the tension's there. That's what makes the game fun, though. It's not nearly as much fun if there's a big gap between you and your opponent. It gets really interesting when the score's tight. How are you going to handle that? How do you handle the nerves, how do you handle the moment? Who's going to handle it the best? And in most of the cases today, I think we handled it a little bit better than they did but they pushed us.
On adjustments to be made in preparation for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend…
We've got to have a better mindset for the big points. We've got to play a little bit more aggressively and a little bit more freely on those points. I don't want our guys to just squander those points, but today I think we played too much inside our limits. The next time hopefully we'll make the mistake of playing too aggressively and then we'll find a balance. If we're playing too safe all the time, it doesn't allow us to be great. I don't want to just hold on to something good, I want to go after something great.
Redshirt Freshman Oliver Landert
On playing through adjustments in the singles line-up…
First of all, I really like playing on Court No. 5, so I was really excited to move from Court No. 6 to Court No. 5, but it was kind of weird starting out because there was a lot of shade on the court and it was difficult getting into a rhythm. But I was really excited to play, and clinching my first match was awesome. I really enjoyed being out there.
On emotions after clinching the victory…
I was really happy. I was kind of relieved but I almost wanted to stay out there a little longer. Once I got past the first set, I had to grind a little bit, but in that second set I just wanted to stay out there forever. I really enjoyed it.
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