TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In their first match of the SEC Tournament, the Florida men's tennis team picked up a 4-1 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores to advance to Saturday's semifinal.
In the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, the Gators switched things up in both singles and doubles. In doubles, the Gators went with a new pair at the No. 2 spot with
Alfredo Perez and
Andy Andrade while in singles
Oliver Crawford got his first taste on court one.
Florida has been dominant in doubles all season, and nearly unbeatable when they capture the crucial first point of the match. That dominance continued on Friday with
McClain Kessler and
Duarte Vale, playing at No. 1 doubles for the first time since Feb. 18, making quick work of their opponents with a 6-2 victory. Courts two and three went back and forth until Crawford and Perez-Blanco, on court three, put away their opponent with a 6-3 victory to clinch the doubles point for the Gators.
After an impressive showing in doubles, Florida kept up their strong play in singles. The Gators jumped out in front early against Vanderbilt to win the first set on five of the six courts. Set two didn't go as smooth as the first set, but the Gators rebounded quickly to take control of the match. After winning set one 6-2, Kessler fell behind in the second but never wavered, coming back to win 7-5 and giving the Gators a 2-0 lead in the match. After Vanderbilt picked up a point on court five, Crawford was able to extend the Gators lead to 3-1 with a 7-5, 7-5 straight sets victory over No. 28 Danny Valent at No. 1 singles. The deciding point came from
Alfredo Perez on court two. After winning set one 6-1, Perez dropped set two 7-5, before quickly finding his form from the first set to run away with a 6-1 victory in set three and clinch the quarterfinal match for the Gators.
Gator Notables
• The Gators improved to 42-23 all-time in the SEC Tournament and 21-7 in the Quarterfinals
• Florida advances to the SEC Semifinals for the sixth straight season
• The Gators are 14-1 this season when they win the doubles point
•
Chase Perez-Blanco and Crawford have won seven straight doubles matches. They are 21-4 as a pair this season
• With the win in doubles Perez-Blanco now has 181 career wins in both singles and doubles which ranks sixth all-time after passing Elliott Orkin and Greg Ouellette
• Crawford improved to 16-4 in the dual season with his first career win at No. 1 singles
• Florida is now 2-3 in neutral courts matches
• Vale earned his 20th career doubles victory
• Kessler earned his 60th career singles victory
• Against top 25 teams, this season UF is 8-5
• Florida will play Mississippi State in the semifinals. The Gators lost to the Bulldogs in Starkville 5-2 back on March 9
Records
Florida: 16-8
Vanderbilt: 18-8
Quoting Coach Shelton
On the team's early doubles success that led to success in singles
"Seems like it's been awhile since we've played a match and I was really pleased. We had to shake some things up in the doubles lineup and Andy and Alfredo did a nice job playing number two for us today. They really hung in there and got us to five all and I thought that was huge. The other two teams gel nicely again today and played aggressively at the right times. We faced some adversity in doubles and I really like the way we responded and that really set us up for singles where we got off to a great start. Vanderbilt is a good team and they are well coached and came back and battled us hard in the second sets but it was good to see us finish strong at the end."
On Crawford's strong play in his first match at No. 1 singles
"He's a gamer. Even when he got down a break in the first set he kept telling me, "I got this coach, I got this coach," and when he says it he actually means it. It's a good feeling to have a freshman that confident on the bench. Really proud of him. On the big points and big moments he is willing to step up and hit his shots and go for it. It says a lot for a freshman to play No. 1 for the first time in the SEC Tournament over a top 25 player says a lot. Really proud of him and really proud of the whole team with a good team win today."
On the leadership for the team's upperclassman
"They really are doing a great job leading. McClain and Chase and Alfredo have done a nice job of just coming ready to play. We've been practicing really hard over the past couple of weeks and to see them come and execute today was good. In the heat today we got a little stronger and kudos to our strength coach for getting us ready to compete and last."
Match Results
Doubles
(1) #49 Kessler/Vale (UF) def. #12 Cam Klinger/Billy Rowe (VU) – 6-2
(2) Perez/Andrade (UF) vs Lachlan McPhee/Max Freeman (VU) – DNF, 5-4
(3) #25 Perez-Blanco/Crawford (UF) vs George Harwell/Baker Newman (VU) – 6-3
Florida won Doubles Point
Order of Finish: 1, 3
Singles
(1) #51
Oliver Crawford (UF) def. #28 Danny Valent (VU) – 7-5, 7-5
(2) #13
Alfredo Perez (UF) def. #25 Cam Klinger (VU) – 6-1, 5-7, 6-1*
(3)
Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) vs #122 Baker Newman (VU) – DNF, 7-5, 0-6, 4-1
(4)
Andy Andrade (UF) vs Billy Rowe (VU) – DNF, 6-2, 4-6, 3-2
(5) Max Freeman (VU) def.
Duarte Vale (UF) – 6-4, 6-4
(6)
McClain Kessler (UF) def. George Harwell (VU) – 6-2, 7-5
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 1, 2*
*Clincher
Up Next
With the victory the Gators advance to the SEC Tournament Semifinals on Friday, April 28. Florida will take on No. 2 seed Mississippi State at 3 p.m. (ET) at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium.
Tournament Central
Follow the Gator
SOCIAL:
Twitter |
Facebook |
Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
#GoGators
