Sunday, March 13
Knoxville, Tenn.
1 PM
Florida Gators
5
at
2
Tennessee
No. 4 Florida Topples No. 1 Tennessee, 5-2
Sunday, March 13, 2022 | Men's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Senior Duarte Vale collected his 100th career singles win, making him one of 11 Gators in program history to do so, in the No. 4 Florida Gators' victory against the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers, 5-2, at the Goodfriend Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
With this win over Tennessee (14-4, 2-2 SEC), the Gators (11-2, 4-0 SEC) now have seven top-10 wins on the season and is one of two SEC teams undefeated in conference after picking two more league wins on the road this week.
Florida started out with strong doubles play once again, and for the sixth match in a row, the Gators reigned supreme in doubles.
It started at court three where the duo of Nate Bonetto and Duarte Vale took on the pairing of Conor Gannon and Mark Wallner. The Florida tandem was able to roll through their match, defeating the Gannon/Wallner duo by a score of 6-3.
On court two, No. 54 Andy Andrade and Mattias Siimar went down 2-5, but won the next two games to close the gap at 4-5 before the doubles point was clinched.
Senior Sam Riffice and sophomore Ben Shelton picked up a top-20 win at court one as they overtook the No. 16 pairing of Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui, 6-4, to win the doubles point and lead 1-0 heading into singles.
Florida only needed three singles victories to clinch the match, but that was easier said than done as Tennessee has only given up three or more singles wins just three times in 17 matches this season before facing the Gators.
The Vols didn't make it easy as four of six matches went into three sets, and was able to even the score at 1-all after Pat Harper defeated No. 119 Bonetto at six singles, 7-5, 6-4.
That tie was short lived, though, as the Gators would win three singles matches in a row to take down the top-ranked Vols.
No. 56 Riffice started the three-match win streak with a big ranked victory against No. 55 Hudd on court two. The Gator was down 3-5 in set one, before rallying back to win the next four games and take the set, 7-5. The senior captain only gave up two more games as he pulled out the win over Hudd, 7-5, 6-2, and collected his fourth consecutive win in straight-sets.
No. 1 Shelton tallied his fourth win at one singles with a huge three-set victory over No. 18-ranked Walton. The Gator took set one by a score of 6-3, before Walton forced a third. Shelton wasn't fazed as he gave up just one game in the final set to win the match, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. The Gainesville native leads the team with 21 singles wins and 13 ranked singles wins on the year.
With matches left on courts three, four and five, the Gators only needed one more win to clinch the match, and No. 109 Vale did so in emphatic fashion.
The senior took on a tough opponent in Angel Diaz at court three. The two went back-and-forth the entire first set, until Diaz was able to win it with a 7-6 (3) tiebreaker score. Over the next two sets, Vale was lights out, only allowing Diaz to win four games across the second and third sets and win his match, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1, to clinch the victory for the Gators over No. 1 Tennessee, 4-1. In addition, Vale joins 10 other players in school history with the prestigious honor of collecting 100 singles wins over his career.
The Vols would get one more point on the board as Mitsui defeated No. 93 Andrade at court four in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
With one match left on court five, graduate Siimar defeated his opponent in three gritty sets. After winning his first set over Gannon, 6-4, Siimar would lose the next one, 3-6. It all came down to the third set, where Siimar showed his experience and poise, cruising to a 6-3 win in the third and giving the Gators a 5-2 victory.
UP NEXT: Florida has a big week ahead, hosting three matches at the Ring Tennis Complex. First, the Gators welcome No. 63 Illinois for a midweek matchup on Wednesday, March 16 at 5 p.m. Then, Florida hosts SEC foes No. 20 Ole Miss and No. 32 Mississippi State on Friday, March 18 at 5 p.m. and Sunday, March 20 at 1 p.m., respectively.
SINGLES RESULTS
1. #1 Ben Shelton (UF) def. #18 Adam Walton (UT), 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
2. #56 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #55 Emile Hudd (UT), 7-5, 6-2
3. #109 Duarte Vale (UF) def. Angel Diaz (UT), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-1
4. Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. #93 Andy Andrade (UF), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Mattias Siimar (UF) def. Conor Gannon (UT), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
6. Pat Harper (UT) def. #119 Nate Bonetto (UF), 7-5, 6-4
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 1, 3, 4, 5
DOUBLES RESULTS
1. Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #16 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui (UT), 6-4
2. #45 Adam Walton/Pat Harper (UT) vs. #54 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar (UF), 5-4, unfinished
3. Duarte Vale/Nate Bonetto (UF) def. Conor Gannon/Mark Wallner (UT), 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1
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With this win over Tennessee (14-4, 2-2 SEC), the Gators (11-2, 4-0 SEC) now have seven top-10 wins on the season and is one of two SEC teams undefeated in conference after picking two more league wins on the road this week.
Florida started out with strong doubles play once again, and for the sixth match in a row, the Gators reigned supreme in doubles.
It started at court three where the duo of Nate Bonetto and Duarte Vale took on the pairing of Conor Gannon and Mark Wallner. The Florida tandem was able to roll through their match, defeating the Gannon/Wallner duo by a score of 6-3.
On court two, No. 54 Andy Andrade and Mattias Siimar went down 2-5, but won the next two games to close the gap at 4-5 before the doubles point was clinched.
Senior Sam Riffice and sophomore Ben Shelton picked up a top-20 win at court one as they overtook the No. 16 pairing of Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui, 6-4, to win the doubles point and lead 1-0 heading into singles.
Florida only needed three singles victories to clinch the match, but that was easier said than done as Tennessee has only given up three or more singles wins just three times in 17 matches this season before facing the Gators.
The Vols didn't make it easy as four of six matches went into three sets, and was able to even the score at 1-all after Pat Harper defeated No. 119 Bonetto at six singles, 7-5, 6-4.
That tie was short lived, though, as the Gators would win three singles matches in a row to take down the top-ranked Vols.
No. 56 Riffice started the three-match win streak with a big ranked victory against No. 55 Hudd on court two. The Gator was down 3-5 in set one, before rallying back to win the next four games and take the set, 7-5. The senior captain only gave up two more games as he pulled out the win over Hudd, 7-5, 6-2, and collected his fourth consecutive win in straight-sets.
No. 1 Shelton tallied his fourth win at one singles with a huge three-set victory over No. 18-ranked Walton. The Gator took set one by a score of 6-3, before Walton forced a third. Shelton wasn't fazed as he gave up just one game in the final set to win the match, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. The Gainesville native leads the team with 21 singles wins and 13 ranked singles wins on the year.
With matches left on courts three, four and five, the Gators only needed one more win to clinch the match, and No. 109 Vale did so in emphatic fashion.
The senior took on a tough opponent in Angel Diaz at court three. The two went back-and-forth the entire first set, until Diaz was able to win it with a 7-6 (3) tiebreaker score. Over the next two sets, Vale was lights out, only allowing Diaz to win four games across the second and third sets and win his match, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1, to clinch the victory for the Gators over No. 1 Tennessee, 4-1. In addition, Vale joins 10 other players in school history with the prestigious honor of collecting 100 singles wins over his career.
The Vols would get one more point on the board as Mitsui defeated No. 93 Andrade at court four in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
With one match left on court five, graduate Siimar defeated his opponent in three gritty sets. After winning his first set over Gannon, 6-4, Siimar would lose the next one, 3-6. It all came down to the third set, where Siimar showed his experience and poise, cruising to a 6-3 win in the third and giving the Gators a 5-2 victory.
UP NEXT: Florida has a big week ahead, hosting three matches at the Ring Tennis Complex. First, the Gators welcome No. 63 Illinois for a midweek matchup on Wednesday, March 16 at 5 p.m. Then, Florida hosts SEC foes No. 20 Ole Miss and No. 32 Mississippi State on Friday, March 18 at 5 p.m. and Sunday, March 20 at 1 p.m., respectively.
SINGLES RESULTS
1. #1 Ben Shelton (UF) def. #18 Adam Walton (UT), 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
2. #56 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #55 Emile Hudd (UT), 7-5, 6-2
3. #109 Duarte Vale (UF) def. Angel Diaz (UT), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-1
4. Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. #93 Andy Andrade (UF), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Mattias Siimar (UF) def. Conor Gannon (UT), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
6. Pat Harper (UT) def. #119 Nate Bonetto (UF), 7-5, 6-4
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 1, 3, 4, 5
DOUBLES RESULTS
1. Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #16 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui (UT), 6-4
2. #45 Adam Walton/Pat Harper (UT) vs. #54 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar (UF), 5-4, unfinished
3. Duarte Vale/Nate Bonetto (UF) def. Conor Gannon/Mark Wallner (UT), 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1
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Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1
#1 Singles Match
123
616
Adam Walton / 0 (18/-) [UT]
361
#2 Singles Match
12
76
Emile Hudd / 0 (55/-) [UT]
52
#3 Singles Match
123
666
Angel Diaz / 0 [UT]
731
#4 Singles Match
123
632
Shunsuke Mitsui / 0 [UT]
466
#5 Singles Match
123
636
Conor Gannon / 0 [UT]
463
#6 Singles Match
12
54
Pat Harper / 0 [UT]
76
Order of Finish:
6,2,1,3,4,5
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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