Florida Men’s Tennis Beats Georgia For First Road Win

The Florida Gators beat the Georgia Bulldogs 4-2 to get their first road win of the season Sunday.

Georgia (10-11, 3-6 SEC) made an impressive comeback to win doubles, but it was Florida (10-9, 4-5) which got the win after outplaying the Bulldogs in singles.

Comeback During Doubles

The deciding match for the doubles point came down to Court 3. Florida’s duo Tanapatt Nirundorn-Kevin Edengren led by as much as 4-1 over Georgia’s duo Miguel Perez Peña-Cyrus Mahjoob, but would lose their match and the doubles point with it.

Every Gators’ team had built a 3-1 lead in their match. On Court 1, Freddy Blaydes-Niels Ratiu closed the gap to 4-3, but went on to lose 6-3 to Florida’s Nate Bonetto-Aidan Kim. After a good start in each match and one win secured, the Gators were in a good position. However, this didn’t last long as the Bulldogs had started their comeback.

https://twitter.com/UGAtennis/status/1774491508269535287

Georgia dominated the rest of the doubles play. After building a 3-1 lead over Ryan Colby-Thomas Paulsell on Court 2, Jeremy Jin-Henry Jefferson didn’t win another game. The Bulldogs duo tied the match 1-1 after Colby-Paulsell won 6-3. The pressure was now on Court 3.

Unfortunately for Florida, just like their teammates on Court 2, Nirundorn-Edengren didn’t win another game after their 4-1 lead. Perez Peña-Mahjoob stepped up and won their match 6-4. Georgia walked into singles with a 1-0 lead.

Gators drop doubles, UGA leads 1-0

Bonetto/Kim (UF) def. Blaydes/Ratiu (UGA) 6-3
Colby/Paulsell (UGA) def. Jefferson/Jin (UF) 6-3
Perez Pena/Mahjoob (UGA) def. Nirundorn/Edengren (UF) 6-4 pic.twitter.com/ikk2frRrZo

— Gators Men's Tennis (@GatorsMTN) March 31, 2024

Big Wins in Singles

The Gators and Bulldogs went to war during singles competition as four out of six matches went to a third set.

Lineup

Court 1: Jin versus Paulsell

Court 2: Kim versus Colby

Court 3: Adhithya Ganesan versus Ratiu

Court 4: Bonetto versus Perez Peña

Court 5: Nirundorn versus Mahjoob

Court 6: Edengren versus Blaydes

Set 1

Florida came out swinging to start singles. The Gators won set one on Courts 3-6. Edengren had the best performance beating Blaydes 6-1.

The Bulldogs took care of business on Courts 1 and 2 winning 6-4 and 6-1, respectively.

Set 2

Georgia came back during the second set winning on Courts 1, 3, 4 and 5. Paulsell swept Jin 6-0 giving Georgia its second and last point of the day putting the Bulldogs up 2-0.

Kim battled back beating Colby 6-1, and Edengren got Florida’s first point after beating Blaydes 6-4, making it 2-1.

Edengren gets the Gators on the board!

Edengren (UF) def. Blaydes (UGA) 6-1, 6-4

UGA leads 2-1 in the dual. pic.twitter.com/wxXDPVj9NZ

— Gators Men's Tennis (@GatorsMTN) March 31, 2024

Set 3

Florida won or led every match that went to a third set.

Ganesan returned to the lineup after not competing in Florida’s last seven singles matchups. He won his third set which tied the match with Georgia 2-2. He beat Ratiu 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Next up was Kim. He defeated Colby 7-5 in their final set giving Florida a 3-2 lead. The Gators now only needed one more win to finish the day. It came from Nirundorn who beat Mahjoob 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

The only unfinished match was between Bonetto and Perez Peña. Bonetto led 6-4, 4-6, 4-1 before the match went unfinished.

A dub in the Dawg House! 🐊🎾#GoGators | presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/sG5ry10sCu

— Gators Men's Tennis (@GatorsMTN) March 31, 2024

Up Next

The Gators will return to Gainesville to host the Vanderbilt Commodores (11-9, 2-6) at 5 p.m. on Friday at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.