Friday, April 14
Gainesville, FL
5 PM
Florida Gators
vs
Kentucky
Lukas Greif is the longest-tenured Gator being honored on Friday.
No. 21 Gators Host No. 5 Kentucky on Senior Day, Finish Regular Season at No. 9 South Carolina
Thursday, April 13, 2023 | Men's Tennis
Kentucky Live StatsKentucky Live StreamSouth Carolina Live StatsSouth Carolina Live StreamMatch Notes
Will Grant, Lukas Greif and Axel Nefve all will be honored on Friday’s Senior Day.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 21 Florida men's tennis team rounds out the regular season facing a pair of top-10 SEC opponents for the second consecutive weekend in No. 5 Kentucky and No. 9 South Carolina.
Prior to Friday's first serve at 5 p.m., Senior Day festivities will begin at 4:45 to recognize three Gators: Will Grant, Lukas Greif and Axel Nefve. The Gators will then head to Columbia, S.C. on Sunday for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Gamecocks.
Florida (13-10, 5-5 SEC) and Kentucky (20-4, 8-3 SEC) previously met this season at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Chicago, as the Wildcats took the match 4-1. This is back-to-back years the programs will meet twice in the same season, after the Gators won 4-3 in Lexington and 4-0 at the SEC Tournament in 2022. The Gators hold the 52-16 series advantage and are 9-2 under Bryan Shelton.
The Gators will travel to South Carolina (17-5, 6-4 SEC) for the first time since 2021 and have won the last three matches against the Gamecocks. Florida is 11-4 all-time in Columbia and lead the series 35-6-1. With Shelton guiding the Orange & Blue, UF is 7-2 in the series.
PROMOTIONS
The first 50 fans in attendance will receive a Florida Tennis sweatshirt.
RUN THE STATE
Florida improved to 4-0 against in-state foes on Tuesday after sweeping North Florida 7-0, failing to drop a set in the match across doubles and singles. The Gators also beat UCF, USF and FSU this season.
DUBS ON DUBS ON DUBs
The Gators have won the doubles point in 18 of 23 matches this season, including the last eight matches. When playing outdoors, Florida has dropped just one doubles point, with the one time coming in the season opener against Texas (Jan. 15). UF is the only team in the SEC and one of four teams in the nation to boast two top-20 ranked doubles pairs.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Of the 25 matches on Florida's regular season schedule, 14 will have come against opponents ranked in the top-25 following this weekend. This is the most top-25 ranked opponents Florida will have played in the regular season since exactly 20 years ago, when the 2003 team faced 15 top-25 opponents.
TO A T
Since making his SEC singles debut on April 1 at Texas A&M, Tanapatt Nirundorn has been a perfect 3-0 at the six position. In both of last weekend's matches, the freshman tied the overall score at 2-2 when Nirundorn beat Martim Prata, 6-4, 6-2 against No. 9 Tennessee and Teodor Giusca, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 against No. 7 Georgia.
DOWN GOES NO. 2
Axel Nefve notched the highest-ranked victory of his collegiate career on April 7 against Tennessee's Johannus Monday to level the match at 3-3. Ranked No. 2 in the ITA's Singles Rankings, Monday hadn't lost a singles match since Jan. 22, until Nefve dispatched the Volunteer, 7-5, 6-3 for his first top-10 win of the season.
MR. CLUTCH
Leading the team in match clinches is Greif with five and the senior has also clinched eight doubles points with partner Jonah Braswell. Greif clinched both the doubles point and match against North Florida.
GATORS IN THE RANKINGS
Doubles
No. 6 Will Grant/Axel Nefve
No. 19 Tanapatt Nirundorn/Togan Tokac
Singles
No. 41 Axel Nefve
No. 83 Will Grant
No. 106 Jonah Braswell
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Kentucky has utilized the same lineup as the meeting at ITA Indoors in 12 of their last 13 matches. Since that match, the Wildcats are 9-4, notably losing twice on the road at Georgia (5-2) and at Tennessee (4-0). They have lost their last three doubles points, but boast three top-50 ranked singles players.
South Carolina heads into the weekend on a two-match losing streak, after falling in two home matches to Georgia (4-0) and Tennessee (6-1). Since beginning the season 15-1 with four top-10 wins, the Gamecocks are 2-4. In SEC doubles play, South Carolina is tied for third in overall winning-percentage (.667) with Georgia, trailing Florida (.739) and Tennessee (.750). They are one of two teams in the SEC with two top-20 singles players.
OPPONENTS IN THE RANKINGS
Doubles
No. 1 Toby Samuel/Connor Thomson (South Carolina)
No. 26 Alafia Ayeni/Taha Baadi (Kentucky)
No. 51 Jake BeasleyJames Story (South Carolina)
No. 65 Joshua Lapadat/JJ Mercer (Kentucky)
Singles
No. 8 Toby Samuel (South Carolina)
No. 17 Connor Thomson (South Carolina)
No. 20 Liam Draxl (Kentucky)
No. 31 Alafia Ayeni (Kentucky)
No. 48 Joshua Lapadat (Kentucky)
No. 102 Casey Hoole (South Carolina)
No. 120 Raphael Lambling (South Carolina)
ATTENDANCE/PARKING
Admission into Friday's event is free. Parking restrictions for only the green lot next to the complex will be lifted for the match.
Access to the tennis building or the court is not permitted for any patrons.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Prior to Friday's first serve at 5 p.m., Senior Day festivities will begin at 4:45 to recognize three Gators: Will Grant, Lukas Greif and Axel Nefve. The Gators will then head to Columbia, S.C. on Sunday for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Gamecocks.
Florida (13-10, 5-5 SEC) and Kentucky (20-4, 8-3 SEC) previously met this season at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Chicago, as the Wildcats took the match 4-1. This is back-to-back years the programs will meet twice in the same season, after the Gators won 4-3 in Lexington and 4-0 at the SEC Tournament in 2022. The Gators hold the 52-16 series advantage and are 9-2 under Bryan Shelton.
The Gators will travel to South Carolina (17-5, 6-4 SEC) for the first time since 2021 and have won the last three matches against the Gamecocks. Florida is 11-4 all-time in Columbia and lead the series 35-6-1. With Shelton guiding the Orange & Blue, UF is 7-2 in the series.
PROMOTIONS
The first 50 fans in attendance will receive a Florida Tennis sweatshirt.
RUN THE STATE
Florida improved to 4-0 against in-state foes on Tuesday after sweeping North Florida 7-0, failing to drop a set in the match across doubles and singles. The Gators also beat UCF, USF and FSU this season.
DUBS ON DUBS ON DUBs
The Gators have won the doubles point in 18 of 23 matches this season, including the last eight matches. When playing outdoors, Florida has dropped just one doubles point, with the one time coming in the season opener against Texas (Jan. 15). UF is the only team in the SEC and one of four teams in the nation to boast two top-20 ranked doubles pairs.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Of the 25 matches on Florida's regular season schedule, 14 will have come against opponents ranked in the top-25 following this weekend. This is the most top-25 ranked opponents Florida will have played in the regular season since exactly 20 years ago, when the 2003 team faced 15 top-25 opponents.
TO A T
Since making his SEC singles debut on April 1 at Texas A&M, Tanapatt Nirundorn has been a perfect 3-0 at the six position. In both of last weekend's matches, the freshman tied the overall score at 2-2 when Nirundorn beat Martim Prata, 6-4, 6-2 against No. 9 Tennessee and Teodor Giusca, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 against No. 7 Georgia.
DOWN GOES NO. 2
Axel Nefve notched the highest-ranked victory of his collegiate career on April 7 against Tennessee's Johannus Monday to level the match at 3-3. Ranked No. 2 in the ITA's Singles Rankings, Monday hadn't lost a singles match since Jan. 22, until Nefve dispatched the Volunteer, 7-5, 6-3 for his first top-10 win of the season.
MR. CLUTCH
Leading the team in match clinches is Greif with five and the senior has also clinched eight doubles points with partner Jonah Braswell. Greif clinched both the doubles point and match against North Florida.
GATORS IN THE RANKINGS
Doubles
No. 6 Will Grant/Axel Nefve
No. 19 Tanapatt Nirundorn/Togan Tokac
Singles
No. 41 Axel Nefve
No. 83 Will Grant
No. 106 Jonah Braswell
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Kentucky has utilized the same lineup as the meeting at ITA Indoors in 12 of their last 13 matches. Since that match, the Wildcats are 9-4, notably losing twice on the road at Georgia (5-2) and at Tennessee (4-0). They have lost their last three doubles points, but boast three top-50 ranked singles players.
South Carolina heads into the weekend on a two-match losing streak, after falling in two home matches to Georgia (4-0) and Tennessee (6-1). Since beginning the season 15-1 with four top-10 wins, the Gamecocks are 2-4. In SEC doubles play, South Carolina is tied for third in overall winning-percentage (.667) with Georgia, trailing Florida (.739) and Tennessee (.750). They are one of two teams in the SEC with two top-20 singles players.
OPPONENTS IN THE RANKINGS
Doubles
No. 1 Toby Samuel/Connor Thomson (South Carolina)
No. 26 Alafia Ayeni/Taha Baadi (Kentucky)
No. 51 Jake BeasleyJames Story (South Carolina)
No. 65 Joshua Lapadat/JJ Mercer (Kentucky)
Singles
No. 8 Toby Samuel (South Carolina)
No. 17 Connor Thomson (South Carolina)
No. 20 Liam Draxl (Kentucky)
No. 31 Alafia Ayeni (Kentucky)
No. 48 Joshua Lapadat (Kentucky)
No. 102 Casey Hoole (South Carolina)
No. 120 Raphael Lambling (South Carolina)
ATTENDANCE/PARKING
Admission into Friday's event is free. Parking restrictions for only the green lot next to the complex will be lifted for the match.
Access to the tennis building or the court is not permitted for any patrons.
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
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