TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Florida men's tennis team saw their 2018 SEC Tournament come to a close on Saturday. The Gators lost a heartbreaking 4-2 decision to No. 2 seed Mississippi State in the semifinals.
Florida started strong on two of the three doubles courts against Mississippi State on Saturday. The Gators led for the whole match on court three and were tied at three on court two midway through the doubles point. On court three
Oliver Crawford and
Chase Perez-Blanco were able to stop a late rally from Mississippi State to win their match 6-3. On court two
McClain Kessler and
Duarte Vale were unable to stay with the Bulldogs, falling 6-4.
In singles the Gators got off to the start they needed to after losing the double point. Florida took the first set in four of the six matches knowing they needed to win four singles matches to win the match.
Alfredo Perez proved once again why he is a leader on this team with a dominate 6-3, 6-2 victory to even the match at one. After MSU took a 2-1 lead with a win on court one it was the team captain,
McClain Kessler, who battled back from a first set loss to win sets two and three by scores of 6-1 and 6-4 to tie the match at two all. On courts two and four the Gators lost set one by scores of 4-6 but prevailed in their second sets 6-4. Both Perez-Blanco and Crawford nearly completed their third set comebacks but both fell just shy as Crawford lost 4-6 and Perez-Blanco fell 3-6. On court five
Andy Andrade played one of his best matches of the year. His match ended unfinished but after losing set one 6-7 he won set two 6-4 and was leading 5-2 in the final set.
Gator Notables
• The Gators fell to 42-24 all-time in the SEC Tournament and 9-12 in the semifinals
•
Chase Perez-Blanco and Crawford have won eight straight doubles matches. They are 22-4 as a pair this season
• With the win in doubles Perez-Blanco now has 182 career wins in both singles and doubles which ranks sixth all-time
• Kessler earned his 61st career singles victory
Records
Florida: 16-9
Mississippi State: 19-2
Match Results
Doubles
(1) #15 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. #3 Perez/Ingildsen (UF0 – 6-3
(2) #61 Giovanni Oradini/Niclas Braun (MSU) def. #49 Kessler/Vale (UF) – 6-4
(3) #25 Perez-Blanco/Crawford (UF) def. Trevor Foshey/Florian Broska (MSU) – 6-3
Mississippi State won Doubles Point
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
(1) #2 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #24
Johannes Ingildsen (UF) – 6-4, 6-4
(2) #27 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def . #51
Oliver Crawford (UF) – 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 *
(3) #13
Alfredo Perez (UF) def. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) – 6-3, 6-2
(4) Niclas Braun (MSU) def.
Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) – 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
(5)
Andy Andrade (UF) vs Florian Broska (MSU) – DNF, 6-7, 6-4, 5-2
(6)
McClain Kessler (UF) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU) – 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 6, 4, 2*
*Clincher
Quoting Coach Shelton
On the teams great effort and resiliency
"I am so proud of this team. We laid everything out on the court today all the way to the last point. The attitude that we displayed, the fight, the competitive spirit, thinking through the match and trying make adjustments as we went through it I'm just so proud of this team. The guys that were on the sidelines were unbelievable in supporting their teammates and it just felt like we were a strong, collective unit out there competitive level. We have to give a lot of credit to Mississippi State because they really came out and played a fantastic match."
On Kessler's leadership
"He was huge. He was relentless with his energy, so much so that I thought he might run out of energy because he was displaying so much of it between every point. During the point he was playing aggressively and making good decisions. When it came down to crunch time at 5-4 in the third set he closed it out like a veteran going to work. Then after his match was over he lead the charge to get his teammates motivated to cheer for the guys and get behind them to do the little things that make this a special event."
On the great job that Alabama did hosting the event
"I want to thank the SEC and the University of Alabama for putting on a first class tournament this weekend. Congratulations to Alabama for playing so well throughout the tournament."
Up Next
The Gators will find out where and who they will be playing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on May 1. The NCAA Selection Show will air at 5:30 p.m. (ET) on NCAA.com. The first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be played on host campuses May 12-13
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