Friday, April 8
Athens, Ga.
5:00 PM
Florida Gators
2
at
5
Georgia
Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson notched their second consecutive win over a Top-5 opponent on Friday night.
Gators Fall to Bulldogs in Athens
Friday, April 8, 2016 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 14 University of Florida men's tennis team fell to the No. 7 University of Georgia Bulldogs, 5-2 on Friday night at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. The Gators are now 7-2 in SEC play this season.
In doubles action, there was not a break in serve until Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin broke Oosterbaan's serve at 4-all to go up 5-4 in the match. The pairing would
go on to win the match, 6-4 on two. The No. 3-ranked senior tandem of Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson clinched the doubles point with their 7-5 win over No.4-ranked Smith and Wagland. The victory was the duo's second Top-5 win in three days.
In singles action, Hidalgo defeated another Top-25 opponent on Friday night. The Gator senior defeated No. 22-ranked Austin Smith, 6-4, 6-4. Florida is off to Columbia, S.C. for a noon match up with the Gamecocks on Sunday.
Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On the match tonight...
"It was a tough match. We came out and played as well as we possibly could in the doubles. I felt like our team came out ready to play. I felt like our team was ready to play and they really executed down the stretch in the doubles. Gordon and Diego to clinch the point, being down a break and ultimately winning that set was huge for us.
Once again, we did a great job responding early in the singles. I think for our group right now, there is just a little bit of doubt when we get in the position to close out matches and close out sets. In a couple of these matches, we are just stalling out a little bit and not playing as aggressively to close out the matches. Certainly we had opportunities at number two tonight at match point. We had match point at number five.
We just have to see it, believe it and go make it happen in those moments and play aggressively. I just don't think we quite did that tonight. I give Georgia a lot of credit. They came back and just continued to compete and use the crowd to their advantage. They energized themselves. Once they got rolling, they were tough. They gained a lot of momentum. That is what home court advantage does for you. I give them a lot of credit. They played well tonight. We will just have to come back and get after South Carolina on Sunday."
Final Results
#14 Florida 2, #7 Georgia 5
Doubles-Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*
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In doubles action, there was not a break in serve until Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin broke Oosterbaan's serve at 4-all to go up 5-4 in the match. The pairing would
go on to win the match, 6-4 on two. The No. 3-ranked senior tandem of Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson clinched the doubles point with their 7-5 win over No.4-ranked Smith and Wagland. The victory was the duo's second Top-5 win in three days.
In singles action, Hidalgo defeated another Top-25 opponent on Friday night. The Gator senior defeated No. 22-ranked Austin Smith, 6-4, 6-4. Florida is off to Columbia, S.C. for a noon match up with the Gamecocks on Sunday.
Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On the match tonight...
"It was a tough match. We came out and played as well as we possibly could in the doubles. I felt like our team came out ready to play. I felt like our team was ready to play and they really executed down the stretch in the doubles. Gordon and Diego to clinch the point, being down a break and ultimately winning that set was huge for us.
Once again, we did a great job responding early in the singles. I think for our group right now, there is just a little bit of doubt when we get in the position to close out matches and close out sets. In a couple of these matches, we are just stalling out a little bit and not playing as aggressively to close out the matches. Certainly we had opportunities at number two tonight at match point. We had match point at number five.
We just have to see it, believe it and go make it happen in those moments and play aggressively. I just don't think we quite did that tonight. I give Georgia a lot of credit. They came back and just continued to compete and use the crowd to their advantage. They energized themselves. Once they got rolling, they were tough. They gained a lot of momentum. That is what home court advantage does for you. I give them a lot of credit. They played well tonight. We will just have to come back and get after South Carolina on Sunday."
Final Results
#14 Florida 2, #7 Georgia 5
Doubles-Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*
- #3 Hidalgo/Watson (UF) def. #4 Smith/Wagland (UGA) 7-5
- #58 Lipman/Orkin (UF) def. Oosterbaan/Zielinski (UGA) 6-4
- Montgomery/Reinberg (UGA) def. Perez/Perez-Blanco (UF) 7-6(4)
- #17 Diego Hidalgo (UF) def. #22 Austin Smith (UGA) 6-4, 6-4
- #34 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. #109 Alfredo Perez (UF) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
- Paul Oosterbaan (UGA) def. #33 Elliott Orkin (UF) 6-4, 6-4
- #111 Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Gordon Watson (UF) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
- Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. #84 Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
- Nick Wood (UGA) def. Josh Wardell (UF) 6-2, 6-2
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Players Mentioned
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