Gators Remain Elite in Singles, Doubles of NCAA Individual Championships
Wednesday, May 25, 2022 | Men's Tennis
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Only eight players remain in the NCAA Singles Championships and two of them are Florida Gators. Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton both won their singles matches on Wednesday morning at the Atkins Tennis Center as Florida now becomes the only school to have multiple players in the Elite 8 of the singles tournament.
In addition, both Gators are elite for the second time today as Riffice and Shelton won their doubles match against an Ohio State duo, advancing to the quarterfinals of doubles competition.
No. 2 Shelton started off singles with a familiar opponent in No. 19 JJ Tracy of Ohio State, as the two faced off in the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championships back in October when Shelton (34-5) picked up a 7-6 (7), 7-5 victory in a battle. This time, Shelton defeated Tracy (37-7) in another straight-set win by two scores of 6-4 to advance to the NCAA Singles Quarterfinals.
In the first set, Tracy took an early 1-0 as he held serve. Shelton would use his service game to tie it at 1-1, including slamming an ace down for the game-point. Both players went back-and-forth in games before the Gator broke Tracy's serve to take a 4-3 lead. Shelton would win two of the next three games to claim the first set, 6-4.
The second set started the opposite way as both players broke each other's serve to tie it 1-1. Shelton would go on to break Tracy's serve once more for a 2-1 advantage, and was able to maintain the lead for the remainder of the match, before winning the contest, 6-4, 6-4, and advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Extending his win streak to seven matches, the Gainesville native now has 34 singles wins this season, which is tied for eighth in school history with Alexandre Lacroix and Justin O'Neal. Shelton also is tied for 9th in single-season combined wins with 58 total victories (34 singles, 24 doubles). Shelton faces No. 15 Arthur Fery of Stanford tomoorow, who defeated No. 7 Stefan Dostanic (USC) in straight-sets during the Round of 16.
No. 28 Riffice (24-6) took on conference-foe, Ronnie Hohmann of LSU, who is ranked No. 29 by the ITA. Hohmann (14-12) is the Tigers' top singles player, and has faced Shelton a few times this year in the regular season and conference tournament as well as in the ITA All-American Championships during the fall.
Riffice was able to secure his third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a straight-set victory over the Tiger, 6-4, 6-3. In the first set, both players were tied 1-1, before Riffice broke Hohmann's serve to go up 2-1. The Gator was able to hold off Hohmann, eventually winning the set by a 6-4 score.
In set two, Riffice broke Hohmann's serve for a 1-0 lead, but would lose two games in a row as the Tiger led 3-1. The Gators captain came out firing after that, not allowing Hohmann to win another game in the match, as he claimed five-straight games to best the Tiger, 6-4, 6-3, and advance in the tournament.
The Orlando native is 24-6 on the season in singles, going on a current three-match win streak. His next singles contest will be a rematch with Virginia's Inaki Montes de le Torre, who beat the No. 1 player in the country and 2021 singles finalist, Daniel Rodrigues of South Carolina, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, in the Sweet 16.
In doubles, the No. 5-ranked pairing of Riffice and Shelton (20-8) ran into some early weather delays, which forced the teams to move from the outdoor courts to the indoors courts twice in the match, before finishing the contest off indoors. But, in what was a grind of a match, the Gators never let up and won against Ohio State's Justin Boulais and James Trotter, 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6) to advance to the doubles quarterfinals.
In the first set, both teams were tied 2-2, before the Florida tandem won four-consecutive games to claim the first set by a 6-2 score. In the second set, the Gators only won three games before the Buckeyes (10-9) evened things up with a 6-3 set to force a super tiebreak.
The Gators started on serve in the breaker, going up 1-0 in points and then winning four more in a row for a 5-0 advantage. Ohio State's No. 17-ranked duo chipped away, winning five of the next seven points to make the score 7-5. The Gators pair gave up one more point, but were able to break two serves, then hold on a big serve from Shelton, to clinch the match with a 10-6 super tiebreak score.
Claiming All-American honors in doubles, Riffice and Shelton are now 20-8 on the year with an impressive 12 ranked wins. They will face the No. 4-ranked pair of Cleeve Harper and Richard Ciamarra of Texas in the Elite 8 tomorrow.
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
R16: #2 Ben Shelton (UF) def. #19 JJ Tracy (Ohio State), 6-4, 6-4
R16: #28 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #29 Ronnie Hohmann (LSU), 6-4, 6-3
DOUBLES RESULTS
R32: #5 Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #9 Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi/Matias Soto (Baylor), 6-4, 6-3
R16: #5 Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #17 Justin Boulais/James Trotter (Ohio State), 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
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In addition, both Gators are elite for the second time today as Riffice and Shelton won their doubles match against an Ohio State duo, advancing to the quarterfinals of doubles competition.
No. 2 Shelton started off singles with a familiar opponent in No. 19 JJ Tracy of Ohio State, as the two faced off in the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championships back in October when Shelton (34-5) picked up a 7-6 (7), 7-5 victory in a battle. This time, Shelton defeated Tracy (37-7) in another straight-set win by two scores of 6-4 to advance to the NCAA Singles Quarterfinals.
In the first set, Tracy took an early 1-0 as he held serve. Shelton would use his service game to tie it at 1-1, including slamming an ace down for the game-point. Both players went back-and-forth in games before the Gator broke Tracy's serve to take a 4-3 lead. Shelton would win two of the next three games to claim the first set, 6-4.
The second set started the opposite way as both players broke each other's serve to tie it 1-1. Shelton would go on to break Tracy's serve once more for a 2-1 advantage, and was able to maintain the lead for the remainder of the match, before winning the contest, 6-4, 6-4, and advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Extending his win streak to seven matches, the Gainesville native now has 34 singles wins this season, which is tied for eighth in school history with Alexandre Lacroix and Justin O'Neal. Shelton also is tied for 9th in single-season combined wins with 58 total victories (34 singles, 24 doubles). Shelton faces No. 15 Arthur Fery of Stanford tomoorow, who defeated No. 7 Stefan Dostanic (USC) in straight-sets during the Round of 16.
No. 28 Riffice (24-6) took on conference-foe, Ronnie Hohmann of LSU, who is ranked No. 29 by the ITA. Hohmann (14-12) is the Tigers' top singles player, and has faced Shelton a few times this year in the regular season and conference tournament as well as in the ITA All-American Championships during the fall.
Riffice was able to secure his third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a straight-set victory over the Tiger, 6-4, 6-3. In the first set, both players were tied 1-1, before Riffice broke Hohmann's serve to go up 2-1. The Gator was able to hold off Hohmann, eventually winning the set by a 6-4 score.
In set two, Riffice broke Hohmann's serve for a 1-0 lead, but would lose two games in a row as the Tiger led 3-1. The Gators captain came out firing after that, not allowing Hohmann to win another game in the match, as he claimed five-straight games to best the Tiger, 6-4, 6-3, and advance in the tournament.
The Orlando native is 24-6 on the season in singles, going on a current three-match win streak. His next singles contest will be a rematch with Virginia's Inaki Montes de le Torre, who beat the No. 1 player in the country and 2021 singles finalist, Daniel Rodrigues of South Carolina, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, in the Sweet 16.
In doubles, the No. 5-ranked pairing of Riffice and Shelton (20-8) ran into some early weather delays, which forced the teams to move from the outdoor courts to the indoors courts twice in the match, before finishing the contest off indoors. But, in what was a grind of a match, the Gators never let up and won against Ohio State's Justin Boulais and James Trotter, 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6) to advance to the doubles quarterfinals.
In the first set, both teams were tied 2-2, before the Florida tandem won four-consecutive games to claim the first set by a 6-2 score. In the second set, the Gators only won three games before the Buckeyes (10-9) evened things up with a 6-3 set to force a super tiebreak.
The Gators started on serve in the breaker, going up 1-0 in points and then winning four more in a row for a 5-0 advantage. Ohio State's No. 17-ranked duo chipped away, winning five of the next seven points to make the score 7-5. The Gators pair gave up one more point, but were able to break two serves, then hold on a big serve from Shelton, to clinch the match with a 10-6 super tiebreak score.
Claiming All-American honors in doubles, Riffice and Shelton are now 20-8 on the year with an impressive 12 ranked wins. They will face the No. 4-ranked pair of Cleeve Harper and Richard Ciamarra of Texas in the Elite 8 tomorrow.
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
R16: #2 Ben Shelton (UF) def. #19 JJ Tracy (Ohio State), 6-4, 6-4
R16: #28 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #29 Ronnie Hohmann (LSU), 6-4, 6-3
DOUBLES RESULTS
R32: #5 Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #9 Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi/Matias Soto (Baylor), 6-4, 6-3
R16: #5 Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #17 Justin Boulais/James Trotter (Ohio State), 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
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