Vale Claims Singles Crown at Southern Intercollegiate Championships

Friday, September 27

Athens, GA

Florida Gators

UGA Ranked +1

No. 52 Duarte Vale remains undefeated (7-0) through singles competition with two singles titles in two tournaments this fall.

Vale Claims Singles Crown at Southern Intercollegiate Championships

Sunday, September 29, 2019 | Men's Tennis

Final Results

By: Carroll Rich

ATHENS, Ga. – Duarte Vale solidified a more than exceptional start to the fall tournament slate thus far on Sunday, as No. 52 ranked Vale was crowned the Black singles draw champion at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships after completing another undefeated weekend in singles competition. The title serves as Vale's second consecutive this fall after earning the doubles and singles titles at the Seahawk Fall Invite on Sept. 13-15. In addition to Vale's performance, the Gators would finish the tournament on a strong note, seeing five singles wins, including four over ranked opponents, from Josh Goodger, Lukas Greif and Blaise Bicknell to cap the weekend in Athens.

Riding a six-match singles win streak, Duarte Vale squared off against UCF's No. 82 ranked Juan Pablo Grassi in the Black singles draw finals, as Vale would once again assert his dominance to knock off Grassi decisively in straight-sets, 6-2, 6-2. Upon claiming the title, Vale remains undefeated through singles competition this fall (7-0), while adding two ranked wins (Bar Botzer, Wake Forest- No. 15; Grassi- No. 82) to his resume.

Meanwhile, Blaise Bicknell also managed to grab a ranked win in the Black singles draw, facing Texas' No. 122 Chih Chi Huang in a consolation matchup. Huang provided a test for Bicknell, though, the Gators' rookie prevailed in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 10-6, to close out a 3-1 record on the weekend.

Florida had a pair of Gators matchup in the Red singles draw, as No. 68 Josh Goodger faced No. 31 Andy Andrade in the third-place match. After taking the first set in tiebreak, 7-6 (2), Goodger would secure the third-place victory with a 6-3 decision in the second set to conclude an exceptional 3-1 weekend with wins over two ranked opponents (Alan Rubio, UCF- No. 84; Andrade- No. 31). With the loss, Andrade finished the weekend with an even 2-2 record in the Red singles draw.

Despite falling in the consolation semis of the Red singles draw, sophomore Lukas Greif managed to even out his performance on the weekend by adding two consolation wins on Sunday. No. 70 Greif met teammate Brian Berdusco in his first match, managing to grind out a three-set battle, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, to take the victory over the fellow Gator. Greif then found another worthy matchup in Tulane's No. 36 Ewan Moore, dropping Moore in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-4, to close the weekend in winning fashion.

While the Gators finished out singles competition at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships on a positive note, Florida's doubles tandems unfortunately didn't carry the same muscle in doubles competition earlier to start the day.

Johannes Ingildsen and Brian Berdusco met Georgia's Henning and Croyder in the third-place matchup of the Red doubles draw, as the pair of Bulldogs came out on top, 6-1, to drop the Gators' No. 4 ranked duo. Additionally, Lukas Greif and Josh Goodger powered their way to Black doubles consolation finals, though, the pair would come up short against Georgia Tech's McDaniel and Bauer, 6-3.

The field of competition at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships proved to be extremely competitive, as the Gators went 18-15 overall on the weekend amongst a field of over 15 nationally-ranked competitors.

THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH BRYAN SHELTON:

"First, I would like to thank UGA for hosting us this weekend and for assembling such a great field. I would also like to thank our entire tennis staff and support staff that put us in a position to be successful. We have so many great people that take ownership of this program."
"Hats off to Duarte Vale for winning his second consecutive singles title. Duarte won convincingly all weekend with a single-minded focus and great intensity. There were plenty other great performances throughout the weekend too."
"Overall, we all learned a lot and we'll keep working to improve in all areas."

UP NEXT:
Next, the Gators will split up for the ITA Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, OK from Oct. 5-13, while others will compete in the Bedford Cup in Tallahassee on Friday, Oct. 11-13.