GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 1 ranked Florida men's tennis team begins spring dual match play this weekend, as the Gators prepare to host the Furman Paladins and FAU Owls at the Alfred A. Ring Complex on Saturday, Jan. 11, for a pair of doubleheaders to kick off the 2020 spring season. First serve is slated for 10 a.m., as Florida will open against Furman to start the day, followed by a 3 p.m. matchup against the Owls later Saturday afternoon.
After being crowned the No. 1 team in the Oracle/ITA Preseason Rankings to start the season, the anticipation and expectations for the 2020 Florida men's tennis team have slightly elevated under head coach
Bryan Shelton in his eighth season at the helm of the program. Coming fresh off a 25-win season, SEC championship and deep Final Four run in the NCAA Tournament, a SEC and national title goal is in clear sight for a Gators team that holds great depth and experience with nine returners and the addition of three talented newcomers.
A plethora of Gators enter Saturday being ranked in the ITA Individual and Doubles National Rankings. Individually, sophomore
Sam Riffice sits within the top five at No. 4, followed by junior
Duarte Vale (No. 17), junior
Oliver Crawford (No. 31), sophomore
Lukas Greif (No. 71), junior
Andy Andrade (No. 72) and freshman
Blaise Bicknell (No. 118). Additionally, Florida holds three doubles pairs within the top 35, seeing the tandem of Crawford and Riffice at No. 14, senior
Johannes Ingildsen and junior
Brian Berdusco at No. 18, and Andrade and Vale at No. 31.
Coming into Saturday's doubleheader, Florida holds a 31-match win streak in season openers, dating back to 1988, including the past seven home openers held at Linder Stadium at the Alfred A. Ring Complex.
SCOUTING THE PALADINS
Furman (0-0, 0-0 SoCon) | 2018: 17-5, 6-1 SoCon
The Paladins are coming off a solid 17-5 season that saw a strong run in the Southern Conference, with a 6-1 conference record, despite falling to the ETSU Bucs, 2-4, in the SoCon tournament finals. Furman has appeared in the Southern Conference tournament finals five times in the past six years and looks to be a legitimate contender in the SoCon once again in returning five players that tallied double-digit singles win totals in the Paladins' lineup last season. Additionally, the Paladins hold the 10
th-ranked doubles pair in the nation in Jake Bhangdia and Jake Munns.
- Series History: UF leads, 31-0 (2-0 under Bryan Shelton)
- Last Meeting: February 13, 2016 in Gainesville – W, 7-0
SCOUTING THE OWLS
FAU (0-0, 0-0 C-USA) | 2018: 19-10, 3-1 C-USA
FAU finished within the top 70 (No. 63) of the final ITA National Team Rankings that concluded the 2019 season last May. The team was ranked as high as No. 45 throughout 2019, as the Owls held a solid 19-10 overall record and 3-1 mark in conference play, finishing as Conference USA Tournament runners-up for the past two seasons. FAU lost a majority of their depth from last year's lineup, though, the Owls kept some solid experience in returners Alvaro Fernandez Horta and Jason Legall – who each had double-digit singles win totals last spring. Additionallly, the Owls added talent in landing South Alabama transfer, No. 58 Maxime Lapraille.
- Series History: UF leads, 5-0 (1-0 under Bryan Shelton)
- Last Meeting: January 27, 2019 in Gainesville – W, 4-1
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