Wednesday, March 16
Gainesville, Fla.
6 PM
Florida Gators
vs
Illinois
No. 4 Gators Host No. 63 Illinois on Wednesday
Tuesday, March 15, 2022 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 4 Florida Gators men's tennis team is set to host No. 63-ranked Illinois on Wednesday, March 16 at the new time of 6 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. Both teams have played one other 22 times in school history, posting an even 11-11 overall record as Florida now looks to take the lead in the series.
The Gators are coming off a dominant road trip in conference play after defeating two top-10 teams in the same week for the third time this season, while also collecting their seventh top-10 win on the year.
Florida was able to sweep No. 8 Georgia with a 4-0 victory. The Gators went out to an early 1-0 lead after winning the doubles points with a couple of ranked wins. Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton overtook the No. 55 pair of Tristan McCormick and Hamish Stewart, 6-2, at court one, and No. 54 Andy Andrade and Mattias Siimar collected a win against No. 27 Trent Bryde and Philip Henning, 6-4, to clinch the doubles point at court two.
The Gators then got three more singles wins from No. 56 Riffice, No. 93 Andrade and No. 1 Shelton. Riffice easily won his match at two singles against No. 40 Henning with a 6-0, 6-1 score, while Andrade beat No. 84 Bryde in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-2, on court four. Shelton would clinch the match with a top-20 win at one singles over No. 19 Stewart, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, to give the Gators a 4-0 sweep.
Florida collected its sixth consecutive doubles point in the following match against No. 1 Tennessee after Nate Bonetto and Duarte Vale won their contest at three doubles over Conor Gannon and Mark Wallner, 6-3. The Riffice/Shelton duo clinched the doubles point with another ranked win, this time against No. 16 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui, 6-1.
Florida then picked up four singles wins to take the match, 5-2, over Tennessee and remain an undefeated 4-0 in the SEC. It started at two singles when Riffice tallied another ranked singles win with a victory over No. 55 Hudd, 7-5, 6-2. Shelton also collected his second ranked singles win of the week with a victory against No. 18 Adam Walton at court one, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. No. 109 Vale would clinch the match at three singles with a win over Angel Diaz, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1, totaling his 100th career singles win in the process. Siimar added one more point on the board with a victory at five singles against Gannon, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
The Gators join Texas A&M as the only teams remaining unbeaten in conference play.
Scouting the Opponent
No. 63 Illinois is a familiar foe for the Gators as they faced each other last season in the Round of 16 during the NCAA tournament, where Florida swept the Illini 4-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Illinois is coming off a 23-3 campaign in the 2021 season. So far this year, the Fighting Illini hold a 4-8 record against some tough competition. They opened the season with a 4-0 loss to then-No. 6 Ohio State. Most recently, they picked up a win over No. 22 North Carolina, 4-2, but fell in contested matches against Baylor, 4-1, and TCU, 4-2.
The Illini have two players ranked in singles as Olivier Stuart sits at No. 62, while Hunter Heck checks in at No. 117. Heck and teammate Lucas Horve are also ranked in doubles at the No. 35 spot.
Opponents in the rankings
Singles
No. 62 Olivier Stuart
No. 117 Hunter Heck
Doubles
No. 35 Hunter Heck/Lucas Horve
Gators in the rankings
Singles
No. 1 Ben Shelton
No. 56 Sam Riffice
No. 93 Andy Andrade
No. 109 Duarte Vale
No. 119 Nate Bonetto
Doubles
No. 33 Abedallah Shelbayh/Mattias Siimar
No. 54 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar
No. 79 Andy Andrade/Duarte Vale
PARKING / WEATHER
Parking restrictions for only the green lot next to the complex will be lifted for Wednesday's match.
In the event of inclement weather, the match will be moved indoors where attendance is limited. Seats indoors will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Live stats and live video will not be available at the indoor facility, so all stat updates will come from GatorsMTN Twitter.
FOLLOW ALONG
There are multiple ways to follow along with the match on Wednesday. There will be a live video stream on all six courts through PlaySight, while live stats will be available on Sidearm.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
The Gators are coming off a dominant road trip in conference play after defeating two top-10 teams in the same week for the third time this season, while also collecting their seventh top-10 win on the year.
Florida was able to sweep No. 8 Georgia with a 4-0 victory. The Gators went out to an early 1-0 lead after winning the doubles points with a couple of ranked wins. Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton overtook the No. 55 pair of Tristan McCormick and Hamish Stewart, 6-2, at court one, and No. 54 Andy Andrade and Mattias Siimar collected a win against No. 27 Trent Bryde and Philip Henning, 6-4, to clinch the doubles point at court two.
The Gators then got three more singles wins from No. 56 Riffice, No. 93 Andrade and No. 1 Shelton. Riffice easily won his match at two singles against No. 40 Henning with a 6-0, 6-1 score, while Andrade beat No. 84 Bryde in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-2, on court four. Shelton would clinch the match with a top-20 win at one singles over No. 19 Stewart, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, to give the Gators a 4-0 sweep.
Florida collected its sixth consecutive doubles point in the following match against No. 1 Tennessee after Nate Bonetto and Duarte Vale won their contest at three doubles over Conor Gannon and Mark Wallner, 6-3. The Riffice/Shelton duo clinched the doubles point with another ranked win, this time against No. 16 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui, 6-1.
Florida then picked up four singles wins to take the match, 5-2, over Tennessee and remain an undefeated 4-0 in the SEC. It started at two singles when Riffice tallied another ranked singles win with a victory over No. 55 Hudd, 7-5, 6-2. Shelton also collected his second ranked singles win of the week with a victory against No. 18 Adam Walton at court one, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. No. 109 Vale would clinch the match at three singles with a win over Angel Diaz, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1, totaling his 100th career singles win in the process. Siimar added one more point on the board with a victory at five singles against Gannon, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
The Gators join Texas A&M as the only teams remaining unbeaten in conference play.
Scouting the Opponent
No. 63 Illinois is a familiar foe for the Gators as they faced each other last season in the Round of 16 during the NCAA tournament, where Florida swept the Illini 4-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Illinois is coming off a 23-3 campaign in the 2021 season. So far this year, the Fighting Illini hold a 4-8 record against some tough competition. They opened the season with a 4-0 loss to then-No. 6 Ohio State. Most recently, they picked up a win over No. 22 North Carolina, 4-2, but fell in contested matches against Baylor, 4-1, and TCU, 4-2.
The Illini have two players ranked in singles as Olivier Stuart sits at No. 62, while Hunter Heck checks in at No. 117. Heck and teammate Lucas Horve are also ranked in doubles at the No. 35 spot.
Opponents in the rankings
Singles
No. 62 Olivier Stuart
No. 117 Hunter Heck
Doubles
No. 35 Hunter Heck/Lucas Horve
Gators in the rankings
Singles
No. 1 Ben Shelton
No. 56 Sam Riffice
No. 93 Andy Andrade
No. 109 Duarte Vale
No. 119 Nate Bonetto
Doubles
No. 33 Abedallah Shelbayh/Mattias Siimar
No. 54 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar
No. 79 Andy Andrade/Duarte Vale
PARKING / WEATHER
Parking restrictions for only the green lot next to the complex will be lifted for Wednesday's match.
In the event of inclement weather, the match will be moved indoors where attendance is limited. Seats indoors will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Live stats and live video will not be available at the indoor facility, so all stat updates will come from GatorsMTN Twitter.
FOLLOW ALONG
There are multiple ways to follow along with the match on Wednesday. There will be a live video stream on all six courts through PlaySight, while live stats will be available on Sidearm.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Inside Florida Gators Men's Tennis
Wednesday, July 17
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
