Doubles Trouble

Friday, May 13

Gainesville, Fla.

5 PM

Florida Gators

North Carolina

Freshman Nate Bonetto is fired up after he and partner Duarte Vale secured the doubles point Friday night in second-seeded UF's victory over 16th-seeded North Carolina.

Saturday, May 14, 2022 | Men's Tennis, Chris Harry

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It might have been when Andy Andrade and Mattias Siimar lost at No. 2 and put the team in a one-match hole. Maybe it was after Ben Shelton and Sam Riffice evened the doubles competition at a match a piece at center court. Or perhaps the fleeting through hit when Duarte Vale and Nate Bonetto trailed by two games on Court 3.

Whenever it was, Florida coach Bryan Shelton was contemplating the very real possibility the red-hot, rolling and second-seeded Gators were going to lose their first doubles point in three months — and he was OK with it.

Provided his team eventually won the match, of course.

Shelton already had plotted his message heading into singles if UF was behind 1-0.

"Just let our guys know, 'Hey, we're still pretty tough to beat 1 to 6 singles, so let's not get too worried about it,' " Shelton said. " 'Let's get back to work.' "

Given the pulse the coach has on the team, given the talent and depth on this team, Shelton's verbal tactics may very well have worked. As it turned out — of course — the Gators won the doubles behind a fiery comeback from Vale, the passionate senior captain, and Bonetto, the freshman, whose booming, left-handed forehand winner gave UF, the reigning national champion, its 21st straight doubles point and launched the Gators to what became a third straight 4-0 victory in their NCAA Super Region matchup against 16th-seeded North Carolina during a weather-delayed Friday night showdown at the Ring Complex.

The win was the 21st straight for the Gators (26-2) and moved them into next week's Elite Eight at Champaign, Ill., where they'll face seventh seeded Virginia (25-5).

Twenty-one straight doubles points. Twenty-one straight match victories. Think there's a correlation?

The last time UF lost in doubles was against 14th-ranked Texas in opening-round play of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 18 in Seattle. The Gators lost that match 4-3. The only other doubles point they lost came back on Jan. 14, in the 2022 season opener at fifth-ranked Texas Christian. Dropped that one 4-3, also.

It took some mixing and matching over the first third or so of the season before Shelton and his staff came up with the current three-team doubles combinations: Shelton and Riffice (the nation's No. 2-ranked player and reigning NCAA singles champ) at 1; Andrade (the program's all-time leader in career victories) and Siimar, two fifth-year seniors, at No. 3; Vale (who played all last season No. 1 singles) and the blossoming Bonetto at 2.

Some context: In 2021, en route to a 26-2 record and the program's first NCAA title, the Gators lost more doubles points than they won. Consider that weakness corrected.

In '22, each doubles pairing has a lefty and a righty, which immediately is a challenge to their opponent. They're coached to play vertically, as in on the attack, which forces the other team to think a split-second more than they'd like.

"We tell our guys, 'You're the predators and they're the prey.' Eyes forward, push forward," Shelton said. "Prey have eyes moving side to side. We want to be predators all the time."

That's pretty much been the case during the '22 campaign, but Friday night — following a two-hour, 13-minute delay due to lightning in the area — the Tar Heels (18-9) had the Gators on their heels. At least early on.

🚨 DUBS DUB 🚨

Nate and Duarte force a tiebreak and win by a score of 7-6 (2) for our 21st doubles point in a row!#GoGators 🐊🎾 pic.twitter.com/SQCXI6LoVO
— Gators Men's Tennis (@GatorsMTN) May 14, 2022

Casey Kania and Logan Zapp defeated Andrade and Siimar 6-2 on Court 2, while UNC was giving UF fits (again, early on) on the other two courts, also. Shelton and Riffice evened things with a 6-4 defeat of Brian Cernoch and Mac Kiger, on Court 1, which threw the point's fate to Court 3, where Vale and Bonetto had fought back from a 4-1 deficit and eventually forced a first-team-to-seven (win-by-two) tiebreaker.

The old guy and the young guy were ready for the moment.

"Getting to be on this team, with these guys who have so many years of experience, I've learned so much this year," said Boneto, the rookie from Bend, Ore., who figures prominently in the program's future. "I've been so fortunate to play with Duarte and have him help me grow as a person and a doubles player."

Friday's growth lesson included a motivational pitch from Vale, the emotional team leader, who Shelton pegged as an ideal partner for Bonetto, who is still a wide-eyed follower.

"Duarte is not afraid to tell Nate exactly what he has to do on the court, how to think, how to act," Shelton said.

Before taking the court against UNC, Duarte eyeballed Bonetto. "I want your body language to be right the whole time. These guys think we are something special, so let's show them that they are right."

As it turned out, North Carolina provided UF arguably the toughest doubles duel over that remarkable 21-match streak. The Gators answered with a gut-check performance that should only fuel their confidence heading into the NCAA quarterfinals; and beyond, they hope.

Fittingly, Bonetto executed the doubles-clinching shot — it was pretty special, just how Vale would have liked it — then took his place with his fellow backup singles players and cheered on the younger Shelton, Riffice, Vale, Andrade, Siimar and Josh Goodger in their respective matches on Courts 1-6.

Coach Shelton, as it turned out, didn't have to adjust his strategy on the fly. Instead, he took the doubles point (another one) and parlayed it into a victory (another one).

Pretty good strategy, too.