BOX SCORE
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In their second-straight top-10 match, Florida again fell behind early 0-1 after dropping the doubles point. The Gators' responded with five strong singles outings to upset the Demon Deacons, 5-2.
No. 24
Oliver Crawford also handed No. 2 Petros Chrysochos his first dual loss of the season as he put the finishing touches on the upset of the defending National Champions.
Wake Forest has now lost eight matches in the last three years, including twice to Florida in a home-in-home series.
The Gators debuted a new doubles lineup tonight against the Demon Deacons, but it didn't have desired effect. Florida earned a quick win on court 3 with
Johannes Ingildsen and
Sam Riffice playing together for the first time. But Wake Forest grabbed the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2.
Once again, No. 8 Florida didn't take long to bounce back though. The Gators took five of the six first sets and didn't let up heading into the second.
The Gators took the lead with quick 2-set decisions from
McClain Kessler and Ingildsen on courts six and four, respectively.
Then, with match point on courts three and five, it was a battle to determine which freshman would clinch the upset for Florida.
Lukas Greif defeated Siddhant Banthia, 6-3, 6-2, moments before Riffice earned a win over No. 60 Melios Efstathiou and clinched the match for Florida.
Florida did not drop more than five total games on courts 3-6.
Wake Forest notched its final point with a win on court 2, but Crawford sealed the win with his tight three-setter over Chrysochos.
The Gators improve to 14-6 over the Demon Deacons, including two straight upsets.
Florida also improves to 5-0 at home this season and has not lost at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex in 11 matches.
Up next, Florida will hit the road for top-30 matches back within the SEC. On Friday, the Gators will visit Athens for a 5 p.m. match with No. 26 Georgia. Then, they will continue north to take on No. 22 Tennessee on Sunday. The match in Knoxville is slated for 1 p.m.
Quotes from the Gators
Sophomore Oliver Crawford
On beating Petros Chrysochos…
"Yeah, it's obviously cool. Petros is arguably the best college tennis player in the last year and a half to two years, so it's cool to beat him. I lost to him this last fall in a close three-set match, so I knew I was pretty close last time and I was just going to go out and do my best and it was nice to come away with a win tonight."
On the team win tonight…
"It's awesome. We have multiple guys winning multiple matches in a row. We have a lot of guys in the middle to low lineup that are taking care of business really quickly and makes my job a lot easier at the top of the lineup with confidence knowing that I can go out and play freely because I know they have my back and they are going to win most of the time."
On dropping the doubles match and then winning five singles matches to win two straight wins…
"I think it shows a lot of our character. After the doubles point the last two matches, we just huddled up as a team and we know we have each other's backs win or lose and we just try and go down swinging and play freely and play the game we enjoy. So everyone knows that win or lose, we have each other's back and tennis isn't the biggest thing in life and everyone is just excited to go out there and do the best we can, especially in front of a wonderful home crowd."
Freshman Sam Riffice
On what was going through his head during match point on his court and Lukas Greif's….
"Yeah, I was paying attention to Lukas' match. I definitely wanted him to finish first so I could clinch. I wanted to clinch. But he [Lukas] is playing so good. It's fun to play out there next to him. He is really positive and plays a good game."
On taking down two top-10 teams at home…
"The fans in the first place were so good. It was so loud out there today and they were so supportive. I mean we lost both doubles points in both matches and it just shows how good all of our guys are in singles. We have just such a solid lineup and it's really fun playing out there with those guys and beating such great teams. All of the guys on our team can play, so it's really fun."
Final Results
#8 Florida 5, #2 Wake Forest 2
Doubles-Order of Finish: 3,1,2
1. Julian Zlobinsky/Alan Gadjiev (WF) def. #73
McClain Kessler/
Duarte Vale (UF)- 6-1
2. #35 Petros Chrysochos/Bar Botzer (WF) def. #14
Oliver Crawford/Andres Andrade (UF)- 6-2
3.
Johannes Ingildsen/
Sam Riffice (UF) def. Melios Efstathiou/Siddhant Banthia (WF)- 6-3
Singles-Order of Finish: 6,4,5,3*,2,1
1. #24
Oliver Crawford (UF) def. #2 Petros Chrysochos (WF)- 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
2. #21 Bar Botzer (WF) def. #54 Andres Andrade (UF)- 6-1, 6-4
3. #48
Sam Riffice (UF) def. #60 Melios Efstathiou (WF)- 6-3, 6-1*
4. #79
Johannes Ingildsen (UF) def. Rrezart Cungu (WF)- 6-2, 6-2
5.
Lukas Greif (UF) def. Siddhant Banthia (WF)- 6-3, 6-2
6.
McClain Kessler (UF) def. Julian Zlobinsky (WF)- 6-3, 6-1
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