Wednesday, March 16
Gainesville, Fla.
6 PM
Florida Gators
7
vs
0
Illinois
No. 1 Florida Blanks No. 69 Illinois in Midweek Contest
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After not dropping a set in singles and picking up three ranked victories on the night, the No. 1 Florida Gators defeated No. 69 Illinois in a 7-0 sweep on Wednesday evening at the Alfred A. Tennis Complex.
For the seventh match in a row, the Gators (12-2, 4-0 SEC) prevailed in doubles. Illinois (5-9) took the slight edge after posting a 6-3 win at court two, but Florida would come back to win the next two matches and claim the doubles point.
At court three, the pairing of Nate Bonetto and Duarte Vale pulled off a tough win over Gabrielius Guzauskas and Alex Brown, 7-5, to even the doubles contest.
Then, the Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton duo made a comeback on court one to defeat the No. 35 pairing of Hunter Heck and Lucas Horve in a tiebreaker. The Gators pair was down 4-5 before rallying to win the next game. Illinois would go up 6-5, but the Gators once again tied it. In the breaker, the Illini tandem took a 5-3 lead over Riffice and Shelton, but the Gators duo had other plans. They fought back and ended up clinching the doubles point with a 7-6 (7) victory.
Florida continued its dominant play heading into singles as they won all six singles matches in straight sets to get the sweep over the Fighting Illini.
Freshman Abedallah Shelbayh remains undefeated in dual match play, moving 3-0 at court six, after putting on a clinic against Nic Meister. The Jordan native was able to win in two sets, 6-2, 6-1, to give the Gators a 2-0 advantage.
No. 56 Riffice tallied the next point for Florida after collecting his second ranked win of the night. Taking on No. 62 Stuart at court two, Riffice posted his fifth straight-set win in a row with a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
With a 3-0 lead, the veteran and No. 93 player Andrade was the one to clinch the match for the Gators. Andrade posted a straight-set victory against No. 117 Heck, 6-4, 6-4, to put the match point on the board and lead 4-0.
No. 109 Vale added another win for the Gators with his exciting 7-5, 6-2 victory over Brown at court three. At court one, No. 1 Shelton took on Montsi, who faced Riffice in last year's Round of 16 of the NCAA Singles Championships. The Gator was able to pull out a big win over the Illini player with a score of 6-3, 7-5.
In Florida's final singles match of the night, No. 119 Bonetto faced Guzauskas at court five. The freshman won his first set, 6-4, before going into a tiebreak in the second. Guzauskas had a 2-4 lead in the breaker, but Bonetto was lights out the rest of the way, winning five of the next six points to complete the sweep for the Gators, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
UP NEXT: Florida hosts SEC foes No. 31 Ole Miss and No. 28 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. Siphosothando Montsi (ILL), 6-3, 7-5
2. #56 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #62 Olivier Stuart (ILL), 6-3, 6-1
3. #109 Duarte Vale (UF) def. Alex Brown (ILL), 7-5, 6-2
4. #93 Andy Andrade (UF) def. #117 Hunter Heck (ILL), 6-4, 6-4
5. #119 Nate Bonetto (UF) def. Gabrielus Guzauskas (ILL), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Abedallah Shelbayh (UF) def. Nic Meister (ILL), 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 4, 3, 1, 5
DOUBLES RESULTS
1. Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #35 Hunter Heck/Lucas Horve (ILL), 7-6 (9-7)
2. Siphosothando Montsi/Olivier Stuart (ILL) def. #54 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar (UF), 6-3
3. Nate Bonetto/Duarte Vale (UF) def. Alex Brown/Gabrielus Guzauskas (ILL), 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
For the seventh match in a row, the Gators (12-2, 4-0 SEC) prevailed in doubles. Illinois (5-9) took the slight edge after posting a 6-3 win at court two, but Florida would come back to win the next two matches and claim the doubles point.
At court three, the pairing of Nate Bonetto and Duarte Vale pulled off a tough win over Gabrielius Guzauskas and Alex Brown, 7-5, to even the doubles contest.
Then, the Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton duo made a comeback on court one to defeat the No. 35 pairing of Hunter Heck and Lucas Horve in a tiebreaker. The Gators pair was down 4-5 before rallying to win the next game. Illinois would go up 6-5, but the Gators once again tied it. In the breaker, the Illini tandem took a 5-3 lead over Riffice and Shelton, but the Gators duo had other plans. They fought back and ended up clinching the doubles point with a 7-6 (7) victory.
Florida continued its dominant play heading into singles as they won all six singles matches in straight sets to get the sweep over the Fighting Illini.
Freshman Abedallah Shelbayh remains undefeated in dual match play, moving 3-0 at court six, after putting on a clinic against Nic Meister. The Jordan native was able to win in two sets, 6-2, 6-1, to give the Gators a 2-0 advantage.
No. 56 Riffice tallied the next point for Florida after collecting his second ranked win of the night. Taking on No. 62 Stuart at court two, Riffice posted his fifth straight-set win in a row with a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
With a 3-0 lead, the veteran and No. 93 player Andrade was the one to clinch the match for the Gators. Andrade posted a straight-set victory against No. 117 Heck, 6-4, 6-4, to put the match point on the board and lead 4-0.
No. 109 Vale added another win for the Gators with his exciting 7-5, 6-2 victory over Brown at court three. At court one, No. 1 Shelton took on Montsi, who faced Riffice in last year's Round of 16 of the NCAA Singles Championships. The Gator was able to pull out a big win over the Illini player with a score of 6-3, 7-5.
In Florida's final singles match of the night, No. 119 Bonetto faced Guzauskas at court five. The freshman won his first set, 6-4, before going into a tiebreak in the second. Guzauskas had a 2-4 lead in the breaker, but Bonetto was lights out the rest of the way, winning five of the next six points to complete the sweep for the Gators, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
UP NEXT: Florida hosts SEC foes No. 31 Ole Miss and No. 28 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. Siphosothando Montsi (ILL), 6-3, 7-5
2. #56 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #62 Olivier Stuart (ILL), 6-3, 6-1
3. #109 Duarte Vale (UF) def. Alex Brown (ILL), 7-5, 6-2
4. #93 Andy Andrade (UF) def. #117 Hunter Heck (ILL), 6-4, 6-4
5. #119 Nate Bonetto (UF) def. Gabrielus Guzauskas (ILL), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Abedallah Shelbayh (UF) def. Nic Meister (ILL), 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 4, 3, 1, 5
DOUBLES RESULTS
1. Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #35 Hunter Heck/Lucas Horve (ILL), 7-6 (9-7)
2. Siphosothando Montsi/Olivier Stuart (ILL) def. #54 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar (UF), 6-3
3. Nate Bonetto/Duarte Vale (UF) def. Alex Brown/Gabrielus Guzauskas (ILL), 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,1
#1 Singles Match
12
Siphosothando Montsi / 0 [ILL]
35
67
#2 Singles Match
12
Olivier Stuart / 0 (62/-) [ILL]
31
66
#3 Singles Match
12
Alex Brown / 0 [ILL]
52
76
#4 Singles Match
12
Hunter Heck / 0 (117/-) [ILL]
44
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Gabrielus Guzauskas / 0 [ILL]
46
67
#6 Singles Match
12
Nic Meister / 0 [ILL]
21
66
Order of Finish:
6,2,4,3,1,5
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
