Florida Gators

M25 Houston Draws

HOUSTON, Texas -  Despite another day of rain showers in the Houston area, all three Gators shined on the first day of main draw competition at the Texas Tamale Co. Houston Cup on Wednesday, as Oliver Crawford, Lukas Greif and Sam Riffice all picked up first round wins.
 
Due to weather conditions in Houston, the tournament was moved to College Station, Texas in which yesterday's main draw matchups began.
 
Despite the long wait that took place to get matches going Wednesday night, Sam Riffice kicked off the tournament with a breeze in the first round, picking up a double-bagel win over qualifier Alexander Lebedev, 6-0, 6-0, to move on.
 
Lukas Greif would handle qualifier Edoardo Graziani in a competitive first round matchup, 6-4, 7-5, while Oliver Crawford picked up a nationally-ranked win over Rice's No. 26 Sumit Sarkar in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5.
 
Main Draw First Round      
 
No. 10 Sam Riffice def. Alexander Lebedev, 6-0, 6-0
 
No. 70 Lukas Greif def. Edoardo Graziani, 6-4, 7-5
 
No. 3 Oliver Crawford def. No. 26 Sumit Sarkar, 6-3, 7-5
 
THOUGHTS FROM VOLUNTEER ASSISTANT COACH SCOTT PERELMAN:

• "Due to the weather conditions in Houston, the tournament was moved 100 miles away to College Station. We drove two hours and waited another five hours to play. We have been talking about effort and attitude since we arrived. The effort and attitude today was outstanding."
• "Sam was flawless today. He broke his opponent down mentally and physically. It is not easy at this level to beat anyone 6-0, 6-0. Lukas has improved with each match he has played. His ball striking tonight was spot on. Oliver played a solid first set and then got down a break in the second, but continued to fight and closed the match out. He will get better and better as the tournament goes on."
• "Coach Shelton always says our players need to be comfortable being uncomfortable. These three guys made Gator Nation proud today. Tomorrow is a new day and new opportunity to succeed. Go Gators!"

 
UP NEXT:

• Doubles competition will take place today, as Sam Riffice and Oliver Crawford will compete for the Gators with a matchup against No. 4 seed Peter Bothwell and Anderson Reed in the first round. Second round singles matches will carry on as well, seeing Crawford take on No. 7 seed Ricardo Rodriguez, Riffice face No. 4 seed Alexander Sarkissian and Greif face No. 5 seed Harrison Adams.