ATLANTA – The University of Florida men's tennis team advanced two teams to the quarterfinals in the doubles main draw of the ITA Regional Championship presented by Oracle. In the main draw of singles the Gators tournament was cut short but Florida earned three consolation victories.
 
For the second day in a row the Gators found success in the doubles draw. Florida advanced three teams to the third-round with two earning wins on Sunday. The No. 5 seeded duo of Chase Perez-Blanco and Oliver Crawford defeated Terrell and Terrence Whitehurst of Florida State 8-5. The Gators second victory came from the No. 7 seeded pair of Andy Andrade and McClain Kessler. Andrade and Kessler defeated Danny Kerznerman and Korey Lovett of UCF. Jordan Belga and Stephen Madonia had the lone loss in doubles, falling to Linus Bergevi and Colter DeCoste of Stetson 8-5.
 
The Gators completed two rounds of singles in the main draw. In the tournament's second-round, UF had three student-athletes advance to the third-round. No. 12 Perez-Blanco defeated Niles Heimer of USF 6-3, 6-0 while No. 13 Crawford defeated Giles Hussey of Georgia State 6-3, 6-2. The third win came from No. 14 Vale who defeated Robert Loeb of Georgia 7-6(6), 6-3. The only second-round loss came from No. 9 Kessler who fell to Florida State's Alex Knaff 4-6, 7-6(17), 6-2.
 
The third-round of singles came down to the bitter end in each of the three matches. Crawford took on No. 4 Guy Iradukunda of Florida State and fell 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Vale battled No. 3 Emil Reinberg of Georgia 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4. Perez-Blanco fell to No. 1 Wayne Montgomery of Georgia 6-1, 6-2.
 
All three Gators in the consolation singles won their opening round match. Andrade defeated Jacob Wojcik of USF 7-6(6), 6-2. Belga defeated Andrei Duarte of Georgia State 6-2, 6-2 and Madonia defeated Andrei Andrukhou of Georgia State 6-0, 6-3. In the second-round the success continued with Belga defeating Eddie Landin of Georgia Southern 6-3, 6-4. Madonia also advanced to the quarterfinals with a win 6-4, 6-4 win over Terrell Whitehurst. Andrade advanced with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Rana-Roop Bhullar.
 
Coach Shelton on the ITA Regional Championship
"I believe we can gain a lot from the matches we played today. We lost a few really close matches in the main draw where we had chances to finish. Got to learn from those. Good to see some of our guys win multiple matches today in the consolation rounds and glad to see them increase their match count. We'll lace them up again tomorrow and take advantage of some great opportunities."
 
Main Draw
Singles
Second-Round
(12) Perez-Blanco def. Heimer (USF) – 6-3, 6-0
(13) Crawford def. Hussey (GaSt.) – 6-3, 6-2
(14) Vale def. Loeb (UGA) – 7-6(6), 6-3
(9) Kessler lost to Knaff (FSU) – 4-6, 7-6(17), 6-2
 
Third-Round
(12) Perez-Blanco lost to (1) Montogmery (UGA) – 6-1, 6-2
(13) Crawford lost (4) Iradukunda (FSU) – 1-6, 7-5, 7-5
(14) Vale lost to (3) Reinberg (UGA) – 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4
 
Main Draw
Doubles
Third-Round
(5) Crawford/Perez-Blanco def. Whitehurst/Whitehurst (FSU) – 8-5
(7) Andrade/Kessler def. (12) Kerznerman/Lovet (UCF) – 8-7(2)
Belga/Madonia lost to Bergevi/Decoste (SU) – 8-5
 
Consolation Draw
Singles
First-Round
Andrade def. Wojcik (USF) – 7-6(6), 6-2
Belga def. Duarte (GaSt.) – 6-2, 6-2
Madonia def. Andrukhou (GaSt.) – 6-0, 6-3
 
Second-Round
Belga def. Kandin (GSU) – 6-3, 6-4
Andrade def. Bhullar – 6-4, 6-0
Madonia def. Whitehurst – 6-4, 6-4
 
Up Next
The Gators will be back on the court for day four of the ITA Regional Championship in Atlanta. Monday's schedule will begin at 10 a.m. and consist of singles consolation quarterfinals, main draw singles quarterfinals, singles consolation semifinals, main draw singles semifinals and main draw doubles quarterfinals.
 
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