TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Gators handled business all weekend long in singles competition in Tallahassee, as
Andy Andrade and
Greysen Cacciatore earned singles titles in their respective draws to conclude a dominant weekend at the 2019 Bedford Cup, hosted by Florida State University. The two Gators went undefeated on the weekend in singles, as the titles serve as the Gators' fourth overall singles crown claimed so far this fall. Additionally,
Blaise Bicknell added a singles win to close out his performance this weekend in Tallahassee on a winning note.
Coming into the weekend winless in singles this fall, sophomore
Greysen Cacciatore entered the Bedford Cup hungry for a singles titles, clawing through competition all weekend long to face Stetson's Christian Mills in the Singles B draw finals. Once again, Cacciatore held the hot hand, breezing through Mills decisively in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, to conclude a 4-0 weekend at the Bedford Cup and bring a singles title back home to Gainesville. Upon this weekend's performance, Greysen now holds a 4-2 record in singles competition this fall.
Andrade was an absolute force throughout the course of the weekend in the Singles A draw, though, the Bradenton, Fla. would entertain a highly competitive three-set battle with USF's No. 97 Chase Ferguson in the finals.
Ferguson came out strong to start, besting No. 31 Andrade, 6-2, in the first set to hold an early lead. Refusing to settle, Andrade then returned the favor with a relentless 6-2 effort in the second to send the match into a third-set tiebreaker for the Singles A crown. The third set came down to the wire as both players fought and fought up until Andrade would manage to pull away, earning a 10-8 decision to take the match and ultimately conquer the Singles A title.
Andrade tallied five-straight singles wins on the weekend to now possess a 9-3 record in singles competition this fall.
Despite being knocked out of championship contention, freshman
Blaise Bicknell picked up an extra singles matchup in UNF's Dominik Barton, as players engaged in extra singles matches upon Sunday's final day of competition. Bicknell would go on to finish the weekend in winning fashion, adding another win, 6-3, 6-3, over Barton to finish the Bedford Cup with a 2-1 record.
Bedford Cup – Finals
Singles A Draw:
No. 31
Andy Andrade def. Chase Ferguson (USF), 2-6, 6-2, 10-8
Singles B Draw:
Greysen Cacciatore def. Christian Mills (Stetson), 6-2, 6-1
Singles Extra
Blaise Bicknell def. Dominik Barton (UNF), 6-3, 6-3
THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH BRYAN SHELTON:
- "Got to give a huge shout out to the Bedford Foundation and Ron Fick and Jay Web Horton for making this event possible. I also want to thank FSU and their staff for running a first-class event. Their organization this weekend was outstanding."
- "I'm proud of our guys. We played hard all weekend and got better! Nice to see Grey and Andy both win titles! It's great to be Florida Gator!!"
UP NEXT:
- The Gators return to the competition on Thursday, Oct. 24-28, as Florida will host the ITA Southeast Regional Championships on campus at the Alfred A. Ring Complex.
