Florida Men’s Tennis Wins Thriller vs. USF in Season Opener
Florida won a thriller at home in its season opener against the USF Bulls, 4-3. The Gators nabbed their first point right away after winning two doubles matches. The Bulls responded by taking three of the first five singles matches to even the score at three. However, Henry Jefferson was able to close out the final set of his match, taking home the victory for the Gators.
The Gators put on a clinic in doubles. The duo of Kevin Edengren and Andreas Timini didn’t drop a game in their 6-0 win over USF’s Timeo Galliard and Gughi Verdese. Shortly afterwards, Florida’s Adhithya Ganesan and Pablo Perez Ramos closed out a 6-3 victory over Max Mroz and Stepan Mruzek. Florida duo Henry Jefferson and Tanapatt Nirundorn had match point over their opponents as Ganesan and Ramos closed out their set to secure the point.
The Gators carried this momentum into their singles matches, as all six players won their first game. Timini and Perez Ramos carried this momentum all the way. Both quickly won two sets, getting the Gators to three points out of the four necessary to take home the win.
“They bring a lot,” Gators coach Adam Steinberg said of Timini and Perez Ramos. “He’s (Pablo) played three years of college tennis, and so he gets it. His energy, his spirit about him as a person is so contagious from the first day he walked on our campus, off and on the court. He’s a pleasure to coach and he means a lot out there for these guys.
“Our little man Timini did a great job today in his first dual match, and he also has a great spirit about him.”
The final point did not come easily. Kevin Edengren fell in straight sets to USF’s Agustin Cuellar, 6-2 and 6-3. Tanapatt Nirundorn won his first four games against Stepan Mruzek, but then lost his next five. Nirundorn came back to take a 6-5 lead in the set, but he wasn’t able to finish off Mruzek, who won the next game and the tiebreaker to secure the first set.
Nirundorn couldn’t rebound, as he lost the second set 6-4. Florida’s Lorenzo Claverie played a back-and-forth match against USF’s Hugo Car. In the first set, neither player broke the other’s serve, taking the set to a tiebreaker, in which Car emerged victorious. The second set started out the same way as the first, until Car broke Claverie’s serve in the set’s eighth game to go up 5-3. Claverie could not respond, ending his match and tying the score.
“Lorenzo had a lot of opportunities there. He played against a really good player today and he was right there with him,” Steinberg said. “If he could’ve gotten that first set and loosened up a bit, it would’ve made a world of difference, but he’s a great player, he’s going to be great for us, and I’m looking forward to seeing him keep improving. There are a lot of positives to take from that match for sure.”
The lone remaining match was a battle between Florida’s Henry Jefferson and USF’s Ettore Danesi. The pair split the 12 games of the first set, sending it to a tiebreaker. Jefferson came out on top of the tiebreaker to win the first set.
The second set was as back-and-forth as the first. It was in the midst of this set when it became apparent that this match would decide which school would take home the victory. The remainder of each team gathered on opposite sides of the neighboring court to cheer on their teammates and hype up the crowd between games. The crowd silenced before each serve, with the exception of one phone ringtone that garnered an annoyed look backwards toward the stands from Danesi. Danesi locked down a 7-5 victory in order to force a final set.
Jefferson started the final set hot, winning the first two games. Danesi responded in kind, winning the next two. Jefferson had one final push in him, winning the next three to take a 5-2 lead. Danesi won the next game to cut Jefferson’s lead to two, but it was too little too late. Jefferson won the next game to close out the match and secure a victory for the Gators. After scoring the winning point, Jefferson flung his racket into the ground and unleashed a scream of jubilation towards his teammates.
After the match, Steinberg spoke on preparing Jefferson for high-pressure situations.
“That’s when college tennis is at its best,” he said. “I kept telling Henry that these are the matches you want to be a part of, but it’s difficult to actually prepare for those moments if you don’t get those experiences.”
Steinberg added: “I think getting through this match will for sure help them because I think they learned a lot today that we’re going to be talking about in the next couple of days. We can talk all day about what it is like to play in these matches, but until we do it, it’s different.”
The Gators take to the court next Saturday and Sunday at ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Columbia, New York.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Tennis, NCAA
