Multiple Gators advance in Individual Championships; Perez earns All-America honors
Thursday, May 24, 2018 | Men's Tennis
Perez earned singles All-America honors while Kessler and Vale pull of an upset to advance in doubles
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships continued on Thursday with multiple Gators competing on the second day of competition. Alfredo Perez continued his strong play in singles while both Gator duos advanced to the doubles bracket.
Day 1 Recap | Singles Bracket | Doubles Bracket
Perez picked up right where he left off a day ago in the NCAA Singles Championship. Perez was matched up against Columbia's Victor Pham in Thursday's round of 32 matchups. Perez wasted no time grabbing a lead in the first set before walking away with an easy 6-1 set win. In the second set, Perez fell behind early 1-2, but that didn't faze him as we went on to win the next five games and clinch the match. The win moves Perez to the round of 16 for the second consecutive season while also locking up ITA All-America honors for the junior. This is Alfredo's second singles ITA All-American award and third overall of his career.
McClain Kessler and Duarte Vale made their NCAA Individual Championship debut on Thursday. In the opening round of the doubles tournament, the pair drew the No. 5-8 seed of Guillermo Nuñez and Alex Rybakov of TCU. This was a rematch of a match that the Gator duo lost 6-2 back in Gainesville earlier in the season. Kessler and Vale dropped the first set 3-6 but battled back to take set two 6-3 and force a third set 10-point tiebreak to decide the outcome. In the tiebreak, the Gator pair took an early 2-1 lead only to have TCU battle back to tie it at three. After the two teams switched sides Kessler and Vale took the next two games and seven of the final eight games to win the tiebreak 10-4 and the match.
Perez and Johannes Ingildsen were locked in a tight battle against Tom Fawcett and Axel Geller of Stanford. After losing the first set by a score of 3-6, the duo had to dig deep to avoid a letdown in the second. Neither team was about to gain any momentum in the second set as they traded games to a six-all tie. In the second point tiebreaker, Perez and Ingildsen were finally able to string some wins together and take a 6-4 lead before Stanford tied it at six. Needing to win by two Perez and Ingildsen were able to scrap for the final to game wins and take the tiebreaker. In the third set, 10-point tiebreaker to decide the match it was all Gators as Perez and Ingildsen took the final set 10-4, advancing to the round of 16 for the second consecutive year.
Up Next
Singles
No. 9-16 Perez vs No. 3 Nuno Borges – 11:30 a.m.
Doubles
Kessler/Vale vs Christian Langmo / Adria Soriano (Miami) – 1 p.m.
No. 4 Perez/Ingildsen vs Fabien Fallert/Tim Sandkaulen (Ole Miss) – 3 p.m.
2018 Individual Championship Results
Singles
Round of 64
No. 9-16 Alfredo Perez (UF) def. JJ Wolf (Ohio State) – 6-4, 6-4
Runhao Hua (Michigan) def. Johannes Ingildsen (UF) – 7-5, 6-2
Lucas Poullain (Florida State) def. Oliver Crawford (UF) – 6-1, 6-1
Round of 32
No. 9-16 Alfredo Perez (UF) def. Victor Pham (Columbia) – 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
Round of 32
No. 4 Perez / Ingildsen (UF) vs Tom Fawcett / Axel Geller (Stanford) – 3-6, 7-6, 10-4
Kessler / Vale def. No. 5-8 Nuñez / Rybakov (TCU) – 3-6, 6-3, 10-4
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Day 1 Recap | Singles Bracket | Doubles Bracket
Perez picked up right where he left off a day ago in the NCAA Singles Championship. Perez was matched up against Columbia's Victor Pham in Thursday's round of 32 matchups. Perez wasted no time grabbing a lead in the first set before walking away with an easy 6-1 set win. In the second set, Perez fell behind early 1-2, but that didn't faze him as we went on to win the next five games and clinch the match. The win moves Perez to the round of 16 for the second consecutive season while also locking up ITA All-America honors for the junior. This is Alfredo's second singles ITA All-American award and third overall of his career.
Advanced to the Rd of 16 ?
— Gators Men's Tennis (@GatorsMTN) May 24, 2018
2X @ITA_Tennis Singles All-American ?
Alfredo's list of accomplishments continues to grow!#NCAATennis#GoGators#GatorWayBestWay pic.twitter.com/PbWf5y4vA6
McClain Kessler and Duarte Vale made their NCAA Individual Championship debut on Thursday. In the opening round of the doubles tournament, the pair drew the No. 5-8 seed of Guillermo Nuñez and Alex Rybakov of TCU. This was a rematch of a match that the Gator duo lost 6-2 back in Gainesville earlier in the season. Kessler and Vale dropped the first set 3-6 but battled back to take set two 6-3 and force a third set 10-point tiebreak to decide the outcome. In the tiebreak, the Gator pair took an early 2-1 lead only to have TCU battle back to tie it at three. After the two teams switched sides Kessler and Vale took the next two games and seven of the final eight games to win the tiebreak 10-4 and the match.
Perez and Johannes Ingildsen were locked in a tight battle against Tom Fawcett and Axel Geller of Stanford. After losing the first set by a score of 3-6, the duo had to dig deep to avoid a letdown in the second. Neither team was about to gain any momentum in the second set as they traded games to a six-all tie. In the second point tiebreaker, Perez and Ingildsen were finally able to string some wins together and take a 6-4 lead before Stanford tied it at six. Needing to win by two Perez and Ingildsen were able to scrap for the final to game wins and take the tiebreaker. In the third set, 10-point tiebreaker to decide the match it was all Gators as Perez and Ingildsen took the final set 10-4, advancing to the round of 16 for the second consecutive year.
Up Next
Singles
No. 9-16 Perez vs No. 3 Nuno Borges – 11:30 a.m.
Doubles
Kessler/Vale vs Christian Langmo / Adria Soriano (Miami) – 1 p.m.
No. 4 Perez/Ingildsen vs Fabien Fallert/Tim Sandkaulen (Ole Miss) – 3 p.m.
2018 Individual Championship Results
Singles
Round of 64
No. 9-16 Alfredo Perez (UF) def. JJ Wolf (Ohio State) – 6-4, 6-4
Runhao Hua (Michigan) def. Johannes Ingildsen (UF) – 7-5, 6-2
Lucas Poullain (Florida State) def. Oliver Crawford (UF) – 6-1, 6-1
Round of 32
No. 9-16 Alfredo Perez (UF) def. Victor Pham (Columbia) – 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
Round of 32
No. 4 Perez / Ingildsen (UF) vs Tom Fawcett / Axel Geller (Stanford) – 3-6, 7-6, 10-4
Kessler / Vale def. No. 5-8 Nuñez / Rybakov (TCU) – 3-6, 6-3, 10-4
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JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
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