Florida Heads to Florida State for Share a Little Sunshine Showdown on ESPN3
Thursday, February 5, 2015 | Men's Tennis
Gainesville, Fla. – The No. 14 Florida men's tennis team is set to cap a four-match road swing at No. 32 Florida State in another edition of the Share a Little Sunshine Showdown on Friday, Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. at the Speicher Tennis Center. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
The Gators are coming off an incredible weekend at the Pac-12/SEC Showdown in Athens, Ga., where they tested the No. 1-ranked team in the country, USC, and took down No. 4 UCLA, 4-3. Redshirt freshman Oliver Landert shined in the win over the Bruins, helping clinch the doubles point with fellow redshirt freshman Joshua Wardell, and securing the upset victory for Florida in the singles event. Junior Diego Hidalgo went 2-for-2 in singles on the weekend, remaining undefeated in dual match individual competition this season.
The Gators own a 55-20 advantage in the all-time series with the Seminoles.
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On putting the win over UCLA behind and preparing for Florida State…
Overall, just a great weekend [at the Pac-12/SEC Showdown]. It's certainly still very early in the season. We'll just continue to work to try and get better. We've got a really tough opponent coming up on Friday night in Tallahassee.
On the keys to improving in doubles…
I always say that positioning and shot selection are two of the most critical things in playing in doubles, along with serve and return. We've just got to continue to put time in there and find time. The guys have got to get out there on their own and put the extra time in in those areas so that we can continue to have success on the doubles court because it really does set us up. I believe we can win when we lose the doubles point like we did against Stanford, but I'd much rather win that doubles point against the tough teams to feel like we have a better chance to win. Like I said, Diego [Hidalgo] and Gordon [Watson] are an excellent doubles team. They're leading us at the No. 1 position. We feel like they could be one of the most dominant teams in the country, but our No. 2 and No. 3 teams right now are not very far behind. This weekend they played at a very high level and we've got to continue that moving forward.
Moving On Up:
After an impressive showing at the Pac-12/SEC Showdown, including a 4-3 victory over No. 4 UCLA, the Florida Gators made a jump in the latest ITA rankings from No. 17 to No. 14.
Hidalgo en Fuego:
Junior Diego Hidalgo remains undefeated in singles through six matches played. For the first time in his collegiate dual match singles career, Hidalgo defeated a ranked opponent, No. 8 Jonny Wang of USC, in Florida's 5-2 loss to the No. 1 team in the country.
#14 Florida (4-2) at #32 Florida State (7-1)
Friday, Feb. 6 at 5 p.m.
Scott Speicher Tennis Center, Tallahassee, Fla.
TV Link: http://es.pn/1z7NLz8
Live Stats: http://www.seminoles.com/fls/32900/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm
Notes: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/men/stats/notes/pre/20150206170000.pdf
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