Trouble for Florida Men’s Tennis at ITA Kickoff Weekend

The No. 17 Wake Forest Demon Deacons got their first ranked win of the year after beating the No.20 Florida Gators 4-1.

The Gators fall to 3-1, while the Demon Deacons improve to 3-1.

Rough start for the Gators

For the first time this season, the Gators lost the doubles point. Wake Forest’s DK Suresh Ekambaram-Holden Koons made quick work of Florida’s Jeremy Jin-Aidan Kim, winning 6-2. Luciano Tacchi-Luca Pow would win the doubles point for the Demon Deacons when they beat Nate Bonetto-JanMagnus Johnson 6-3.

Doubles update:

Ekambaram/Koons (WF) def. Kim/Jin (UF): 6-2
Tacchi/Pow (WF) def. Johnson/Bonetto (UF): 6-3

WF leads the match 1-0 heading into singles#GoGators pic.twitter.com/HYZ4rH3SwU

— Gators Men's Tennis (@GatorsMTN) January 27, 2024

New Territory

For the first time this year, the Gators would have to come back from a 1-0 deficit.

Ganesan started strong for the Gators by giving Thomson his first singles loss of the season, 6-2, 6-4, to tie the match at 1-1. However, this would be short-lived, as the Demon Deacons would win three straight to take the match.

Koons would take down undefeated Nirundorn 6-3, 6-2, followed by Tacchi giving Bonetto his first singles loss 6-4, 7-5. Pow would finish it off with a 6-3, 6-3, win over Johnson.

https://twitter.com/WakeMTennis/status/1751283733565464819

Till the very end

Even though both went unfinished, Kim and Jin put up a fight in their singles matches. Both were underdogs, as Jin took on  Ekambaram. After losing the first set 6-4, Jin pushed set two to 6-6 leading to a tie-breaker. It would end 5-0 in Ekambaram’s favor and go unfinished.

Playing on court one were Moroni and Kim. Both coming off of a singles loss and looking to bounce back. Kim took the first set 6-3 and Morni would take the second 6-4. Kim was up 2-1 in the final set before it ended.

Florida will finish the ITA Kickoff weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Sunday when it will face either Illinois or North Carolina.