LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. – The Gators made their presence known on the first day of competition at the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic on Friday, as the contingent of Gators competing in Lakewood Ranch went 11-3 overall on the day.
Andy Andrade,
Josh Goodger and
Blaise Bicknell collected two wins apiece to feature in Saturday's quarterfinals, as the Gators also saw success in doubles play with tandem of
Greysen Cacciatore and
Josh Goodger and
Andy Andrade and
Brian Berdusco reaching Saturday's semifinals. Despite falling out of the main singles draw, junior
Brian Berdusco also rebounded with a round of 16 consolation win to feature in the consolation back draw quarterfinals on Saturday.
The day began with doubles competition as both of Florida's doubles pairs breezed through Friday's matchups to notch appearances in the semifinals.
Andy Andrade and
Brian Berdusco, the draw's No. 3 seed, collected their first two doubles win of the fall slate as a tandem, downing Illinois' Alex Bancila and Vuk Budic with ease in the round of 16, 8-2. The Gators would then meet Florida State's Sebastian Arcila and Rana-Roop Singh Bhular in the quarterfinals, dropping the pair of Seminoles, 8-4, to cap their doubles debut.
The duo will face the draw's No. 2 seed in Notre Dame's Williams Howells and Axel Nefve in Saturday's semifinals.
Greysen Cacciatore and
Josh Goodger, the draw's No. 8 seed, would see more of the same results in their quadrant of the doubles draw, thrashing Notre Dame's Conor Somers and Jonathan Small, 8-1, before going on to pick up an impressive 8-4 victory over top-seeded Edu Guell and Michael Heller of Duke to reach Saturday's semifinals.
Cacciatore and Goodger prepare to Lousiville's Fabien Salle and Sergio Hernandez Ramirez, the draw's No. 4 seed, in the semifinals.
The Gators would then carry the success over into the main singles draw, going 6-2 through the opening rounds of singles competition.
Top-seeded No. 31
Andy Andrade would open singles play against Louisville's Matthew Fung, defeating the Cardinal, 6-2, 7-6 (4), to meet Florida State's Sebastian Arcila in the round of 16. Arcila would give Andrade a good competition, though, the junior would prevail in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-4, to secure a spot in the event's quarterfinals.
Andrade will face No. 8 seed Edu Guell of Duke in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
No. 68
Josh Goodger, the draw's No. 3 seed, would follow suit in the main singles draw, opening play with Louisville's Fabien Salle. Goodger would hand Salle a decisive 6-0, 6-2 loss in the round of 32 before going on to down Navy's Andrew Ton, 6-2, 6-3, to conclude his first day of action with a quarterfinals appearance.
Goodger will match up with No. 6 seed Garrett Johns of Duke in the quarterfinals.
Freshman
Blaise Bicknell, the draw's No. 4 seed, would be the final Gator in the singles draw to reach the quarterfinals, though, Bicknell saw a tight match in his opening round of 32 matchup with Illinois' Alex Bancila. Bancila took the early advantage over Bicknell, notching a 6-4 victory in the first set, before Bicknell would storm back with resilience to win in the super tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (9), to advance to the draw's round of 16. Bicknell would then add a win over Navy's Derrick Thompson, 6-4, 6-2, to finish off his day with a quarterfinals appearance.
Bicknell is slated to face No. 5 seed Sergio Hernandez Ramirez of Louisville in Saturdays quarterfinals.
Brian Berdusco unfortunately fell in a tough opening matchup to the draw's No. 6 seed, Garrett Johns of Duke, 6-0, 6-2, to move into the consolation singles draw. Berdusco would however bounce back in the consolation round of 16 with a gritty 6-4, 7-5 win over Florida State's Rana-Roop Singh Bhular to finish the day in winning fashion.
Berdusco will go on to face Lousiville's Fabien Salle in Saturday's consolation quarterfinals.
Despite Cacciatore's success in doubles on the day, the sophomore would fall out the main singles draw, falling to Michigan's Harrison Brown, 6-1, 6-3. Slipping into the consolation singles draw, Cacciatore would then come up short against Notre Dame's Axel Nefve to fall out of the event's singles competition.
THOUGHTS FROM VOLUNTEER ASSISTANT COACH SCOTT PERELMAN:
- "The Gators went 11-3 today and advanced three players to the quarterfinals of singles and two doubles teams to the semifinals of doubles. Andy [Andrade] and Josh [Goodger] were both undefeated today in singles and doubles. Blaise [Bicknell] started slowly, but played better and better as the day went on and won two singles matches."
- "Brian [Berdusco] bounced back after losing singles this morning and played well this afternoon. Brian was a force in doubles all day. Grey [Cacciatore] played outstanding doubles from the beginning to the end of the day. The energy, competitive spirit and enthusiasm the Gators showed today was impressive. Tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity to succeed. Go Gators!"
UP NEXT:
- The doubles semifinals will begin tomorrow, followed by main draw singles and consolation singles quarterfinals at the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Classic.
