TULSA, Okla. – Sophomore
Sam Riffice remains the lone Gator to survive competition at the ITA All-American Championships, as Riffice collected two singles wins over ranked opponents on Friday to feature in Saturday's semifinals. Riffice's singles success highlights Friday's competition for the Gators, though,
Oliver Crawford earned himself an automatic entry into the Oracle ITA Fall National Championships despite falling in the event's quarterfinals. However, Riffice and Crawford still feature in the consolation doubles draw, reaching the consolation semifinals, though,
Johannes Ingildsen and
Brian Berdusco's quarterfinals run in the main doubles draw would unfortunately come to an end on Friday, as
Lukas Greif's time in Tulsa would also end in the singles consolation draw.
Florida would begin the day geared for round of 16 singles action, in which
Oliver Crawford and
Sam Riffice braced for the hefty competition that would await them for the remainder of the tournament.
No. 3
Oliver Crawford matched up with TCU's No. 18 Alastair Gray, while No. 10 Riffice would see No. 19 Matej Vocel of Oklahoma State.
Crawford came into the round of 16 match spirited, as the Spartanburg, S.C. native downed TCU's Gray with ease in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, to notch a consecutive quarterfinals appearance as he did in last year's main singles draw. Oklahoma State's Vocel came out ready for his challenge with Riffice, taking the first set (6-4), though, Riffice would buckle down and outlast Vocel in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to move on to the event's quarterfinals round. The win also notched an automatic entry for Riffice into the Oracle ITA Fall National Championships, slated for Nov. 6-10 in Newport Beach, Calif.
In between matches, No. 70 Lukas Grief met Arizona's No. 38 Jonas Ziverts in the round of 16 consolation singles draw, taking the first set (6-4) before Ziverts would rally in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, to end Greif's run in Tulsa. Greif finished the weekend 4-2 in singles competition.
Crawford then saw himself a competitive challenge in Stanford's No. 33 Alex Rotseart, who had strung together a series of upsets over No. 9 Jack Lin of Columbia and UCLA's No. 20 Keegan Smith to reach the quarterfinals stage of the main singles draw.
Crawford and Rotseart played neck and neck throughout the first set, as Rotseart narrowly managed to edge Crawford in tiebreak, 7-6 (7), to earn a crucial early advantage in the matchup. Rotseart would then bust out a lengthy lead at 4-0 in the second set, before Crawford built up momentum to take four-straight games and deadlock the second set at 4-4. Despite the slight comeback, Rotseart would manage to dig deep and come away with a 6-4 decision in set to down No. 3 Crawford, 7-6 (7), 6-4, and move into Saturday's semifinals.
On the other side of the main singles draw, No. 10 Riffice would meet up with Texas A&M's No. 16 Hady Habib in the quarterfinals. The first set was played competitive on both sides until Riffice eventually pulled away late in the frame to earn a 7-5 advantage early on. Taking advantage of the early lead, Riffice then left it all on the court to knock off Habib in the second, 6-3, vaulting him into the event's semifinals.
Riffice has tallied four consecutive wins on the week, all over ranked opponents, to hold a 5-1 singles record throughout the fall slate. A win tomorrow will put Riffice in the finals of the main singles draw, in which the finals of the Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American Championships will be aired live in primetime on Sunday night on ESPNU.
Crawford and Riffice's presence in the doubles consolation draw also continues, as the No. 49 ranked duo dropped Alabama's No. 29 Patrick Kaukovalta and Edson Ortiz in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 10-4, to reach the consolation semifinals. They'll face South Carolina's No. 27 Raphael Lambling and Daniel Rodrigues tomorrow, as a consolation finals appearance would also grant the Gators an automatic entry into the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Newport Beach, Calif.
Last to take the court for the Gators on the evening was Florida's No. 4 ranked doubles tandem of
Johannes Ingildsen and
Brian Berdusco. Matching last year's progress at the ITA All-American Championships, the Gators met Columbia's No. 6 duo of Jack Lin and Jackie Tang in the main doubles draw quarterfinals.
Lin and Tang took the first set from the Gators, 6-2, before Ingildsen and Berdusco tightened up in the second set. Ingildsen and Berdusco came out strong looking to extend the match to a third set, though, Lin and Tang would meet the Gators blow for blow. Coming down to a tiebreak finish, Lin and Tang scarcely outlasted the Gators' duo, 7-6 (5), to cut their doubles run short and secure a spot in Saturday's doubles semifinals.
UP NEXT:
- No. 10 Sam Riffice will see Texas A&M's No. 45 Val Vacherot in tomorrow's singles semifinals. The winner will feature in the finals for a chance to win the ITA All-American Championships main singles draw on ESPNU.
