Sunday, February 5
Gainesville, FL
1:30 PM
Florida Gators
4
vs
2
#6 UCLA
McClain Kessler earned the first point for the Gators in singles play (Photo: Courtney Culbreath / UAA Communications)
Gators Overtake No. 6 UCLA for Second Upset Win
Sunday, February 5, 2017 | Men's Tennis
UF vs. UCLA Results | UGA vs. USC Results
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men's tennis team pulled out another upset win over No. 6 UCLA on Sunday, defeating the Bruins 4-2.
This was the Gators' second top-10 win in the same number of days, after defeating the No. 8 USC Trojans on Saturday. Florida dropped the doubles point in both matches over the weekend, but came back to win four hard-fought points to win both matches.
In singles play, McClain Kessler defeated UCLA's Joseph Di Giulio 6-1, 6-4 to earn the first point for the Gators, kick-starting the Gators' run to the victory. UCLA's Martin Redlicki fought back, beating Chase Perez-Blanco, but freshman Johannes Ingildsen finished close behind to earn a well-deserved third point over Logan Staggs.
Alfredo Perez clinched the match for the Gators with a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 11 Gage Brymer – a player he lost a tiring three-set match to in November at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships.
With this win, the Gators improve to a 3-13 record against the Bruins, a team they have now defeated twice consecutively. Florida now has a 6-0 record, which ties the best starting home record the Gators have seen under Bryan Shelton (2013: 6-0 home record, 7-0 win streak).
These two important wins come after two weeks of facing unranked opponents, and a week before what could be the Gators' toughest match of the season as they head to No. 1 Virginia on February 11.
Quoting Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On winning two ranked matches this weekend…
"It feels great. When we set up this four year cycle with UCLA and USC, we knew we'd have to be patient because we were the last team to host this event. I think our patience was a good thing because we saved the best for last. This year being able to bring those teams here, it's unusual that USC and UCLA make the trek across the country to play.
"I just want to thank Billy [Martin] and Peter [Smith] for coming out here and competing against us in front of our home crowd. I also want to thank our boosters and our fans and obviously our administration, everybody who supports us, Kate Harte, just everyone who has been behind us and helped us get to this point where we're able to compete at a high level.
"It feels great for our guys to get some validation of the hard work they've been putting in, I think that working hard is really important but working smart is even better. I think our guys were starting to work smart. It's very early in the season, we haven't even gotten into the conference stuff. We just can't get ahead of ourselves, we have to just continue to work hard and keep getting better."
On Alfredo's match against Gage Brymer…
"I think it was important for him. He lost to Gage at the National Indoors in New York in his last match of the fall, and I know losing to him left a bad taste in his mouth. Gage is such a gamer, he just competes so well, so for Alfredo to get that today, he had to dig deep. There were times in that match where he got behind in the first set break, and he just never backed off, he broke him right back, never let him consolidate, and from there gained some momentum. And from there he carried that momentum into the second set and was able to close it out on his serve after going down love-30."
Senior Elliott Orkin
"This was huge for our team, huge for our confidence. To be a senior and to see how far our team has come and how much the culture has changed over the past four years since Bryan has taken over, it's really amazing and I'm so proud of my teammates. The way we responded these past two days after losing the doubles point, we came out in singles and played really well lines one through six, so I couldn't be prouder. Two huge wins for us and for the program, and I'm looking forward to next weekend versus Virginia."
On how he responded when Evan Zhu started to come back in the second set…
"He started playing really well, I have to give him a lot of credit. He started making a lot more balls from the baseline and he wasn't doing that as much in the first set. So I really had to dig deep and play solid and play my game, and he broke me to go up 4-3 but I was able to break right back. In the tiebreaker he gave me some openings and I took advantage of those openings and was able to close him out in two sets."
Sophomore Alfredo Perez
On the two top 10 wins…
"It feels really good, all the hard work and coming into practice every day and putting in the work paid off and it feels really good. Beating two top 10 teams feels really good, and it shows the rest of the country that we're not here to mess around, we're here to do some damage in the NCAA [Tournament] and play as best as we can."
On what has been working well for him the past couple of weeks…
"Like Coach has been telling us, keeping calm on the court and not going crazy, but at the same time having a lot of energy. Also just fighting for every single point and trusting myself that I'm going to make the right decision and go after my shots, and just compete like an animal."
Next up for UF
Florida will head to Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday, February 11th to take on the No. 1 University of Virginia Cavaliers. The Gators have a 4-4 record against the Cavaliers, a team they have not defeated since 1991, where the Gators won 5-1 in Gainesville. This match is just one of many top-ranked opponents Florida will face in February, as they will head to the National Team Indoors and face No. 3 Ohio State at home on Sunday, February 26.
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men's tennis team pulled out another upset win over No. 6 UCLA on Sunday, defeating the Bruins 4-2.
This was the Gators' second top-10 win in the same number of days, after defeating the No. 8 USC Trojans on Saturday. Florida dropped the doubles point in both matches over the weekend, but came back to win four hard-fought points to win both matches.
In singles play, McClain Kessler defeated UCLA's Joseph Di Giulio 6-1, 6-4 to earn the first point for the Gators, kick-starting the Gators' run to the victory. UCLA's Martin Redlicki fought back, beating Chase Perez-Blanco, but freshman Johannes Ingildsen finished close behind to earn a well-deserved third point over Logan Staggs.
Alfredo Perez clinched the match for the Gators with a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 11 Gage Brymer – a player he lost a tiring three-set match to in November at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships.
With this win, the Gators improve to a 3-13 record against the Bruins, a team they have now defeated twice consecutively. Florida now has a 6-0 record, which ties the best starting home record the Gators have seen under Bryan Shelton (2013: 6-0 home record, 7-0 win streak).
These two important wins come after two weeks of facing unranked opponents, and a week before what could be the Gators' toughest match of the season as they head to No. 1 Virginia on February 11.
Quoting Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On winning two ranked matches this weekend…
"It feels great. When we set up this four year cycle with UCLA and USC, we knew we'd have to be patient because we were the last team to host this event. I think our patience was a good thing because we saved the best for last. This year being able to bring those teams here, it's unusual that USC and UCLA make the trek across the country to play.
"I just want to thank Billy [Martin] and Peter [Smith] for coming out here and competing against us in front of our home crowd. I also want to thank our boosters and our fans and obviously our administration, everybody who supports us, Kate Harte, just everyone who has been behind us and helped us get to this point where we're able to compete at a high level.
"It feels great for our guys to get some validation of the hard work they've been putting in, I think that working hard is really important but working smart is even better. I think our guys were starting to work smart. It's very early in the season, we haven't even gotten into the conference stuff. We just can't get ahead of ourselves, we have to just continue to work hard and keep getting better."
On Alfredo's match against Gage Brymer…
"I think it was important for him. He lost to Gage at the National Indoors in New York in his last match of the fall, and I know losing to him left a bad taste in his mouth. Gage is such a gamer, he just competes so well, so for Alfredo to get that today, he had to dig deep. There were times in that match where he got behind in the first set break, and he just never backed off, he broke him right back, never let him consolidate, and from there gained some momentum. And from there he carried that momentum into the second set and was able to close it out on his serve after going down love-30."
Senior Elliott Orkin
"This was huge for our team, huge for our confidence. To be a senior and to see how far our team has come and how much the culture has changed over the past four years since Bryan has taken over, it's really amazing and I'm so proud of my teammates. The way we responded these past two days after losing the doubles point, we came out in singles and played really well lines one through six, so I couldn't be prouder. Two huge wins for us and for the program, and I'm looking forward to next weekend versus Virginia."
On how he responded when Evan Zhu started to come back in the second set…
"He started playing really well, I have to give him a lot of credit. He started making a lot more balls from the baseline and he wasn't doing that as much in the first set. So I really had to dig deep and play solid and play my game, and he broke me to go up 4-3 but I was able to break right back. In the tiebreaker he gave me some openings and I took advantage of those openings and was able to close him out in two sets."
Sophomore Alfredo Perez
On the two top 10 wins…
"It feels really good, all the hard work and coming into practice every day and putting in the work paid off and it feels really good. Beating two top 10 teams feels really good, and it shows the rest of the country that we're not here to mess around, we're here to do some damage in the NCAA [Tournament] and play as best as we can."
On what has been working well for him the past couple of weeks…
"Like Coach has been telling us, keeping calm on the court and not going crazy, but at the same time having a lot of energy. Also just fighting for every single point and trusting myself that I'm going to make the right decision and go after my shots, and just compete like an animal."
Next up for UF
Florida will head to Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday, February 11th to take on the No. 1 University of Virginia Cavaliers. The Gators have a 4-4 record against the Cavaliers, a team they have not defeated since 1991, where the Gators won 5-1 in Gainesville. This match is just one of many top-ranked opponents Florida will face in February, as they will head to the National Team Indoors and face No. 3 Ohio State at home on Sunday, February 26.
Follow the Gators
Join the conversation: Tweet #GoGators
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FloridaGators.com
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