Duo of Gators Collect Three Wins on Day Two of NCAA Individual Championships
Tuesday, May 24, 2022 | Men's Tennis
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Gators Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton tallied three total wins on Tuesday at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex to advance to the Round of 16 in both singles and doubles of the NCAA Individual Championships.
No. 1-seed and No. 2-ranked Shelton (33-5) took on future Gator, No. 57 Axel Nefve (14-10), in the Round of 32. In the first set, the Gainesville native never lost a game as he put up a bagel, 6-0, to take an early lead.
The second set was not so easy as Shelton and Nefve battled back and forth to force a tiebreaker. After going down 1-3, Shelton would hold serve to cut into Nefve's lead and make it 2-3, but the Notre Dame player won the next game for a 2-4 advantage.
The Gator bounced back and would win the next three games for a 5-4 lead, but Nefve ended up tying the match at 5-all. Shelton won the next game for a 6-5 advantage, then Nefve came back to even things at six, forcing a breaker. Shelton came out firing in the tiebreak, however, as he quickly went up 6-0 in points, then won the breaker by a 7-6 (1) score.
In his NCAA Singles Championship debut, Shelton made it to the Round of 16 and earns his first All-American honor. Shelton extends his singles record to 33-5, which is sole possession of 10th all-time in single-season singles victories. The Gator also has 23 ranked wins on the year and is on a six-match win streak.
Senior Captain Riffice (23-6) was battling with Duke's Garrett Johns (19-10) on the next court over. The two players went to three sets before Riffice came away with the win to earn his fifth All-American accolade of his career.
In the first set, Riffice and No. 49 Johns went back-and-forth the entire time, until the Gator won two consecutive games in a row after being tied, 5-5, to win the first set by a score of 7-5. In set two, Johns was able to gain momentum as he went ahead 4-2. Eventually, Johns led 5-3 before Riffice claimed another game. However, the Blue Devil would go on to even the match with a 6-4 second set.
The third set mirrored the first set as both players would tie and switch leads. Again, with a 5-5 tie, Riffice would serve out the next game, collecting a few aces along the way, to take a 6-5 lead. Not having broke Johns' serve in the third set, the Orlando native needed to in order to win the match – and that's exactly what he did.
Going up 40-15 in the last game, Riffice was able to slam a ball down to put away his opponent and advance to the Round of 16 for the third time in his career.
Riffice is 23-6 in singles on the season and totals nine ranked victories. With his win today, Riffice becomes the first player in program history to earn four All-American honors in singles, claiming All-American accolades every year he's been a Gator. Four former Gators came close to this feat as Damon Henkel (1994-96), Justin O'Neal (1997, 1999, 2001), Hamid Mirzadeh (2003-05) and Greg Ouellette (2005, 2007-08) were all named All-Americans in singles three times in their careers.
In doubles, the No. 5 duo of Riffice and Shelton (19-8) stepped back on the courts a few hours later to take on the tough, No. 9-pairing of Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and Matias Soto (21-7) from Baylor. Amassing more than 20 doubles wins on the season for Baylor at the No. 2 doubles spot, this would be a battle in the first round of doubles play, but the Gators were up for the challenge.
In the opening set, Riffice and Shelton took a 3-1 lead before the Baylor tandem tied it up at 3-all. The two teams went back-and-forth, tying the match at 4-4, when the Gators' team claimed the next two games for a 6-4 first-set victory.
The second set started with Baylor breaking Florida's serve, but the Gators broke right back for a 1-1 score. Riffice and Shelton were down at one point, 2-3, but would tie the match again at 3-3 by breaking the Baylor serve once again. The Gators pairing would go on to win three-straight games to claim the match by a 6-4, 6-3 score. They move to 19-8 on the year with two top-10 wins and 11 ranked doubles victories.
UP NEXT: Riffice and Shelton move on in the singles competition, where Riffice will face No. 29 Ronnie Hohmann of LSU and Shelton will play No. 19 JJ Tracy of Ohio State. In doubles, Riffice and Shelton are set to take on No. 17 Justin Boulais and James Trotter of Ohio State, who defeated Tennessee's duo of Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui. Times for these matches will be announced later this evening.
SINGLES RESULTS
R64: #2 Ben Shelton (UF) def. #27 Ondrej Styler (MICH), 7-5, 6-2
R64: #28 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #9 Cannon Kingsley (OSU), 7-5, 6-2
R32: #2 Ben Shelton (UF) def. #57 Axel Nefve (Notre Dame), 6-0, 7-6 (1)
R32: #28 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #49 Garrett Johns (Duke), 7-5, 4-6, 7-5
DOUBLES RESULTS
R32: #5 Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #9 Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi/Matias Soto (Baylor), 6-4, 6-3
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No. 1-seed and No. 2-ranked Shelton (33-5) took on future Gator, No. 57 Axel Nefve (14-10), in the Round of 32. In the first set, the Gainesville native never lost a game as he put up a bagel, 6-0, to take an early lead.
The second set was not so easy as Shelton and Nefve battled back and forth to force a tiebreaker. After going down 1-3, Shelton would hold serve to cut into Nefve's lead and make it 2-3, but the Notre Dame player won the next game for a 2-4 advantage.
The Gator bounced back and would win the next three games for a 5-4 lead, but Nefve ended up tying the match at 5-all. Shelton won the next game for a 6-5 advantage, then Nefve came back to even things at six, forcing a breaker. Shelton came out firing in the tiebreak, however, as he quickly went up 6-0 in points, then won the breaker by a 7-6 (1) score.
In his NCAA Singles Championship debut, Shelton made it to the Round of 16 and earns his first All-American honor. Shelton extends his singles record to 33-5, which is sole possession of 10th all-time in single-season singles victories. The Gator also has 23 ranked wins on the year and is on a six-match win streak.
Senior Captain Riffice (23-6) was battling with Duke's Garrett Johns (19-10) on the next court over. The two players went to three sets before Riffice came away with the win to earn his fifth All-American accolade of his career.
In the first set, Riffice and No. 49 Johns went back-and-forth the entire time, until the Gator won two consecutive games in a row after being tied, 5-5, to win the first set by a score of 7-5. In set two, Johns was able to gain momentum as he went ahead 4-2. Eventually, Johns led 5-3 before Riffice claimed another game. However, the Blue Devil would go on to even the match with a 6-4 second set.
The third set mirrored the first set as both players would tie and switch leads. Again, with a 5-5 tie, Riffice would serve out the next game, collecting a few aces along the way, to take a 6-5 lead. Not having broke Johns' serve in the third set, the Orlando native needed to in order to win the match – and that's exactly what he did.
Going up 40-15 in the last game, Riffice was able to slam a ball down to put away his opponent and advance to the Round of 16 for the third time in his career.
Riffice is 23-6 in singles on the season and totals nine ranked victories. With his win today, Riffice becomes the first player in program history to earn four All-American honors in singles, claiming All-American accolades every year he's been a Gator. Four former Gators came close to this feat as Damon Henkel (1994-96), Justin O'Neal (1997, 1999, 2001), Hamid Mirzadeh (2003-05) and Greg Ouellette (2005, 2007-08) were all named All-Americans in singles three times in their careers.
In doubles, the No. 5 duo of Riffice and Shelton (19-8) stepped back on the courts a few hours later to take on the tough, No. 9-pairing of Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and Matias Soto (21-7) from Baylor. Amassing more than 20 doubles wins on the season for Baylor at the No. 2 doubles spot, this would be a battle in the first round of doubles play, but the Gators were up for the challenge.
In the opening set, Riffice and Shelton took a 3-1 lead before the Baylor tandem tied it up at 3-all. The two teams went back-and-forth, tying the match at 4-4, when the Gators' team claimed the next two games for a 6-4 first-set victory.
The second set started with Baylor breaking Florida's serve, but the Gators broke right back for a 1-1 score. Riffice and Shelton were down at one point, 2-3, but would tie the match again at 3-3 by breaking the Baylor serve once again. The Gators pairing would go on to win three-straight games to claim the match by a 6-4, 6-3 score. They move to 19-8 on the year with two top-10 wins and 11 ranked doubles victories.
UP NEXT: Riffice and Shelton move on in the singles competition, where Riffice will face No. 29 Ronnie Hohmann of LSU and Shelton will play No. 19 JJ Tracy of Ohio State. In doubles, Riffice and Shelton are set to take on No. 17 Justin Boulais and James Trotter of Ohio State, who defeated Tennessee's duo of Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui. Times for these matches will be announced later this evening.
SINGLES RESULTS
R64: #2 Ben Shelton (UF) def. #27 Ondrej Styler (MICH), 7-5, 6-2
R64: #28 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #9 Cannon Kingsley (OSU), 7-5, 6-2
R32: #2 Ben Shelton (UF) def. #57 Axel Nefve (Notre Dame), 6-0, 7-6 (1)
R32: #28 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #49 Garrett Johns (Duke), 7-5, 4-6, 7-5
DOUBLES RESULTS
R32: #5 Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #9 Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi/Matias Soto (Baylor), 6-4, 6-3
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Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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