Florida Gators

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida men's tennis' Axel Nefve secured a victory in the second round to advance to the round of 16 in the NCAA Singles Championship on Tuesday night at the USTA National Campus.
 
After winning his first round match at 1:18 a.m. ET early Tuesday morning over No. 7 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc from Florida State, No. 32 Nefve started his second round meeting with Arizona's No. 40 Jonas Ziverts less than 16 hours later. Weather continued to be an issue at the tournament site and the match was forced indoors with a two-hour delay.
 
The opening set was a back-and-forth affair between Nefve and Ziverts, as both sides held serve all the way through to a tiebreak. There was just a single break point opportunity in the first set overall, but Ziverts fended off Nefve. In the breaker, Nefve came out swinging and opened with a 3-0 lead via an opening mini-break of Ziverts serve. Ziverts produced a mini-break of his own to shorten the gap to 4-3, but Nefve immediately followed with another mini-break of his own to go up 5-3. The graduate student let loose an explosive serve on the final point, which Ziverts couldn't handle and Nefve took the lead 7-6 (4).
 
In the second frame, Ziverts made Nefve uncomfortable in the first four games and snatched up a 4-0 advantage. The Wildcat secured the set 6-2 and forced Nefve to go the distance for the second straight match. In three-setters, Nefve held a 6-5 record heading into the match after winning early Tuesday mornings.
 
Going down 2-0 to begin the third set, Nefve responded in a massive way and the Delray Beach, Fla. native won the next five games. Nefve converted on 100% (2/2) of his break point opportunities in the set, in order to earn the one break lead. Leading 5-3 with the chance to serve out the match, drama entered on what appeared to be the winning point. Utilizing the serve and volley, Nefve ripped a serve out wide and pushed the net, but made contact with the net before the smash could bounce twice. With Ziverts earning the point and forcing the game to deuce, Nefve stayed composed and Ziverts backhand sailed long.
 
With the 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3 victory, Nefve advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in his three appearances in the NCAA Singles Championship. Additionally, Nefve achieves ITA Singles All-American status by advancing to the round of 16 at the tournament. Nefve is 23-15 in singles on the season and totals nine ranked-victories, while improving to 2-4 in matches indoors.
 
For a spot in the quarterfinals, Nefve is set to face Virginia's No. 9 Chris Rodesch. Rodesch is coming off a three-setter as well, outlasting Kentucky's No. 59 Joshua Lapadat 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2).
 
Originally set to join partner Will Grant in the round of 32 in the NCAA Doubles Championship at 6:30 p.m. ET, the NCAA cancelled the men's doubles matches at 8:21 p.m. due to the rain forecast. The NCAA plans on playing the doubles round of 32 on Wednesday and will play two rounds of men's doubles on Thursday (Round of 16 & Quarterfinals).
 
NCAA Doubles Championships | Round of 32
No. 5 Will Grant/Axel Nefve vs No. 13 Stefan Dostanic/Bradley Frye (USC), Cancelled
 
NCAA Singles Championships | Round of 32
No. 32 Axel Nefve (UF) def. No. 40 Jonas Ziverts (Arizona), 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3
 
NCAA Singles Championships | Round of 64
No. 32 Axel Nefve (UF) def. No. 7 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc (FSU), 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
 
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