No. 5 Gators Primed for ITA National Team Indoor Championships
Thursday, February 17, 2022 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 5-ranked and No. 4-seeded Florida Gators men's tennis team (5-1) will have a rematch against the No. 14-ranked and No. 13-seeded Texas Longhorns (6-3) at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle on Friday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. hosted by the University of Washington.
The Gators advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships with two wins in the Gainesville Regional against Princeton and Florida State. This marks the 18th time Florida has qualified for the ITA Indoor Championships and the third time the Gators will face the Longhorns at the tournament.
Florida holds a 5-1 overall record with victories over Texas, UCF, Princeton and Florida State. Earlier this season, the Gators defeated the Longhorns, 4-3, in Austin to claim the team's first win of the year.
In that match, Florida clinched the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. Duarte Vale and Abedallah Shelbayh overtook the No. 13-ranked duo of Richard Ciamarra and Cleeve Harper, 6-2, while Andy Andrade and Mattias Siimar came back from being behind in the tiebreak to beat Micah Braswell and Chih Chi Huang, 7-6 (5).
In singles, the Gators won at courts three, five and six to win the match. Josh Goodger defeated Huang in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 (7), and Siimar won his match over No. 73 Harper, 6-4, 6-4. Ben Shelton clinched the match with his win against Pierre-Yves Bailly, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1.
Most recently, Florida posted a 4-1 victory over in-state rival, Florida State, at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla., for College MatchDay. This was the second time in program history that the Gators played the Seminoles twice in the same week, picking up two wins over FSU along the way.
Florida went down early after losing the doubles point, but came back to win four singles matches in a row at courts one, two, three and four, all in straight sets. Sam Riffice picked up the Gators first point with a victory over Loris Pourroy, 6-4, 6-0, Shelton defeated Sebastian Arcila, 6-4, 6-2, for the team's second point and Vale picked up a win over Andreja Petrovic, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to take a 3-1 lead. Andrade would clinch the match with a gutsy win over Richard Thongoana, 6-4, 7-5, for his 119th career singles victory. He is now two singles wins away from breaking the all-time career singles wins record.
Scouting the Opponent
Florida and Texas are familiar with one another as the two met twice last season and once already this year. The Longhorns are 6-3 on the season, with their three losses coming at the hands of Florida, Arizona and Baylor. Texas also has wins against UTSA, Arizona State, Columbia, Oregon, Rice and UCF.
Texas has four players ranked in singles and two doubles teams ranked by the ITA. Micah Braswell is the highest-ranked Longhorn in singles at No. 57, while the team of Richard Ciamarra and Cleeve Harper are up to No. 14.
Texas in the rankings
Singles
No. 57 Micah Braswell
No. 62 Pierre-Yves Bailly
No. 75 Richard Ciamarra
No. 110 Cleeve Harper
Doubles
No. 14 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper
No. 39 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab
Gators in the rankings
Singles
No. 3 Ben Shelton
No. 33 Mattias Siimar
No. 92 Sam Riffice
No. 121 Nate Bonetto
Doubles
No. 17 Abedallah Shelbayh/Mattias Siimar
No. 44 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar
No. 58 Andy Andrade/Duarte Vale
FOLLOW ALONG
Florida is guaranteed to play three matches in the tournament either in the main or consolation draws. The first matches are set for Friday, Feb. 18, followed by the quarterfinals on Saturday and semifinals on Sunday. The championship match is set for Monday, Feb. 21.
In addition to No. 14 Texas, both No. 4 TCU and No. 7 Virginia are in the same bracket as Florida.
More information about the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, including the draws, live stats and live video, can be found on the ITA Tournament Central page. Live streams will be available via PlaySight at the Nordstrom Tennis Center, while a broadcast by Cracked Racquets is available on their YouTube page. Live scoring via Tennis-Ticker will also be available and can be accessed here.
Friday Matches – Main Draw
Nordstrom Tennis Center
No. 5 TCU vs. No. 12 Virginia, 12 p.m.
No. 4 Florida vs. No. 13 Texas, 3 p.m.
No. 8 Wake Forest vs. No. 9 Georgia, 6:30 p.m.
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 16 Washington, 9:30 p.m.
Seattle Tennis Club
No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 11 South Carolina, 12 p.m.
No. 3 Tennessee vs. No. 14 Texas A&M, 3 p.m.
No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 10 USC, 6:30 p.m.
No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 15 Ole Miss, 9:30 p.m.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
The Gators advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships with two wins in the Gainesville Regional against Princeton and Florida State. This marks the 18th time Florida has qualified for the ITA Indoor Championships and the third time the Gators will face the Longhorns at the tournament.
Florida holds a 5-1 overall record with victories over Texas, UCF, Princeton and Florida State. Earlier this season, the Gators defeated the Longhorns, 4-3, in Austin to claim the team's first win of the year.
In that match, Florida clinched the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. Duarte Vale and Abedallah Shelbayh overtook the No. 13-ranked duo of Richard Ciamarra and Cleeve Harper, 6-2, while Andy Andrade and Mattias Siimar came back from being behind in the tiebreak to beat Micah Braswell and Chih Chi Huang, 7-6 (5).
In singles, the Gators won at courts three, five and six to win the match. Josh Goodger defeated Huang in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 (7), and Siimar won his match over No. 73 Harper, 6-4, 6-4. Ben Shelton clinched the match with his win against Pierre-Yves Bailly, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1.
Most recently, Florida posted a 4-1 victory over in-state rival, Florida State, at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla., for College MatchDay. This was the second time in program history that the Gators played the Seminoles twice in the same week, picking up two wins over FSU along the way.
Florida went down early after losing the doubles point, but came back to win four singles matches in a row at courts one, two, three and four, all in straight sets. Sam Riffice picked up the Gators first point with a victory over Loris Pourroy, 6-4, 6-0, Shelton defeated Sebastian Arcila, 6-4, 6-2, for the team's second point and Vale picked up a win over Andreja Petrovic, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to take a 3-1 lead. Andrade would clinch the match with a gutsy win over Richard Thongoana, 6-4, 7-5, for his 119th career singles victory. He is now two singles wins away from breaking the all-time career singles wins record.
Scouting the Opponent
Florida and Texas are familiar with one another as the two met twice last season and once already this year. The Longhorns are 6-3 on the season, with their three losses coming at the hands of Florida, Arizona and Baylor. Texas also has wins against UTSA, Arizona State, Columbia, Oregon, Rice and UCF.
Texas has four players ranked in singles and two doubles teams ranked by the ITA. Micah Braswell is the highest-ranked Longhorn in singles at No. 57, while the team of Richard Ciamarra and Cleeve Harper are up to No. 14.
Texas in the rankings
Singles
No. 57 Micah Braswell
No. 62 Pierre-Yves Bailly
No. 75 Richard Ciamarra
No. 110 Cleeve Harper
Doubles
No. 14 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper
No. 39 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab
Gators in the rankings
Singles
No. 3 Ben Shelton
No. 33 Mattias Siimar
No. 92 Sam Riffice
No. 121 Nate Bonetto
Doubles
No. 17 Abedallah Shelbayh/Mattias Siimar
No. 44 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar
No. 58 Andy Andrade/Duarte Vale
FOLLOW ALONG
Florida is guaranteed to play three matches in the tournament either in the main or consolation draws. The first matches are set for Friday, Feb. 18, followed by the quarterfinals on Saturday and semifinals on Sunday. The championship match is set for Monday, Feb. 21.
In addition to No. 14 Texas, both No. 4 TCU and No. 7 Virginia are in the same bracket as Florida.
More information about the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, including the draws, live stats and live video, can be found on the ITA Tournament Central page. Live streams will be available via PlaySight at the Nordstrom Tennis Center, while a broadcast by Cracked Racquets is available on their YouTube page. Live scoring via Tennis-Ticker will also be available and can be accessed here.
Friday Matches – Main Draw
Nordstrom Tennis Center
No. 5 TCU vs. No. 12 Virginia, 12 p.m.
No. 4 Florida vs. No. 13 Texas, 3 p.m.
No. 8 Wake Forest vs. No. 9 Georgia, 6:30 p.m.
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 16 Washington, 9:30 p.m.
Seattle Tennis Club
No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 11 South Carolina, 12 p.m.
No. 3 Tennessee vs. No. 14 Texas A&M, 3 p.m.
No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 10 USC, 6:30 p.m.
No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 15 Ole Miss, 9:30 p.m.
We'll have a rematch against Texas on Friday at 3 p.m. ‼️#ITAIndoors / #GoGators 🐊🎾 https://t.co/SxDSXJIuIu
— Gators Men's Tennis (@GatorsMTN) February 15, 2022
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Players Mentioned
One-on-One with Coach Steinberg 3-7-24
Thursday, March 07
Bryan Shelton Postmatch 2-2-23
Saturday, February 04
Jonah Braswell Postmatch 2-2-23
Saturday, February 04
NCAA: Men's Tennis Postmatch 5-13-22
Friday, May 13