No. 3 Gators Prepare for Indoors Slate at Illinois, Purdue

Friday, February 7

Urbana-Champaign, IL

4 PM CT / 5 PM ET

Florida Gators

Illinois

The Gators set out for its first road trip of the season, as UF is outscoring opponents 40-8 through eight dual matches thus far.

No. 3 Gators Prepare for Indoors Slate at Illinois, Purdue

Thursday, February 6, 2020 | Men's Tennis

By: Carroll Rich

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 3-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team prepares for its first road trip of the dual season, as the Gators travel for a pair of indoors matchups with the Big Ten's Illinois and Purdue this weekend. Florida (7-1) opens with Illinois (1-3) at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill. on Friday, Feb. 7, at 5 p.m. ET, followed by a matchup with Purdue (4-3) at the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind. on Sunday morning at 10 a.m.

The Gators look ahead to a pair of tests this weekend, as both matches will serve as a gauge to their development and level of play indoors ahead of next weeks National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis. Though a majority of UF's matches have taken place outdoors, the Gators have picked up a win indoors this season with a 7-0 sweep over Stetson in the Indoor Tennis Facility at the Ring Tennis Complex on Sunday, Jan. 19.

UF was slotted at No. 3 in the nation in the latest Oracle/ITA Team Rankings, while checking in at No. 4 in the Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25 on Wednesday.

Florida enters the weekend riding a five-match win streak, including its second consecutive College MatchDay win over Florida State last Saturday, 4-1. The Gators have managed to continue their dominance in doubles, boasting a 16-1 overall doubles record while having yet to drop a doubles point in a dual match all season. Additionally, Florida has steadily handled business in singles action, giving up only three singles losses through UF's seven wins thus far.

Overall, UF is outscoring opponents 40-8, as the Gators have won 32 of 40 dual singles matches on the season thus far.

UF's No. 1 doubles tandem of Oliver Crawford and Sam Riffice reached a career-high ranking together at No. 13 in the latest ITA Doubles rankings, as the duo boasts an undefeated 4-0 record from the top spot. No. 2 duo of Johannes Ingildsen and Will Grant entered the ITA Doubles top 25, at No. 24, with a 5-1 mark in No. 2 doubles, while Duarte Vale and Josh Goodger remain unbeaten at 4-0 in No. 3 doubles on the year.

Junior Duarte Vale leads the Gators with a 6-1 mark, including 3-0 from the No. 2 position, in singles, as the solid start has guided Vale to a career-high ranking of No. 11 in the nation. No. 112 Blaise Bicknell and Ingildsen both sit at 4-0 on the year, while No. 4 Sam Riffice and Andy Andrade hold 4-1 tallies thus far from the No. 2 and No. 4 positions mostly. Junior Josh Goodger sits at 4-2, as No. 23 Oliver Crawford holds a 2-1 mark at the top spot, while No. 90 Lukas Greif lies at 3-2 thus far.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING ILLINI
Illinois Fighting Illini (1-3, 0-0 Big Ten)

The Fighting Illini opened the 2020 season ranked as high as No. 12 in the Oracle/ITA Rankings, however, were dropped out of Wednesday's latest top 25 after suffering consecutive losses at Duke and No. 5 North Carolina last weekend. Illinois also fell to SEC foe Ole Miss to start the year, though, the Illini have picked up a win this season against Texas Tech. Despite the rough start, the Fighting Illini are more than capable of turning things around, still receiving votes in the Oracle/ITA top 25, as Illinois returned a bulk of their squad from last year's NCAA tournament team. Illinois is led by their four ranked individuals in No. 18 Alex Brown (1-0, No. 2), No. 42 Siphosothando Montsi (2-0), No. 78 Aleks Kovacevic (2-2, No. 1) and No. 91 Zeke Clark (1-2, No. 3).

Series History: 9-11, Illinois leads (2-1 under Bryan Shelton)
Last Meeting: March 20, 2019 in Gainesville – W, 6-1

SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue Boilermakers (4-3, 0-0 Big Ten)

Purdue has pushed a three-match win streak over the past four matches, most recently tallying doubleheader victories over DePaul, 4-3, and Toledo, 4-2, last Saturday. Purdue reached the Big Ten quarterfinals last season, falling to Illinois, though, the Boilermakers returned some depth in addition to multiple newcomers. The Boilermakers are led by senior No. 30 Athell Bennett, who sits at 3-2 from the top spot, and junior Mateo Julio (2-3, No. 2). Prior to Sunday's matchup, Purdue has a series of doubleheaders against Chicago State and IUPUI on Saturday, Feb. 8.