No. 22 Florida Men’s Tennis Falls to No. 5 TCU in Nail-Biter

No. 22 Florida men’s tennis fell 4-3 to No. 5 Texas Christian University on Tuesday at the Ring Tennis Complex. 

The match was competitive, with four singles courts going deep into deciding sets before the Horned Frogs (10-4) secured the final point.

“There are no moral victories at Florida,” UF coach Adam Steinberg said. “I don’t believe in that, especially here.”

Doubles

The Gators (7-8) fell behind early, losing the doubles point to TCU.

Kevin Edengren and Andreas Timini opened strong on Court 3, earning a 6-3 win against the No. 76 pair of Oliver Bonding and Maximus Dussault. TCU responded quickly, however, taking the remaining two courts.

The No. 20 Florida duo of Henry Jefferson-Tanapat Nirundorn fell 7-5 to No. 8 Duncan Chan-Cosme Rolland De Ravel on Court 1, while Pablo Perez-Ramos and Lorenzo Claverie fell 6-4 to Cooper Woestendick-Albert Pedrico on Court 2. 

Singles

The match tightened quickly once singles competition began.

Two first-set tiebreaks unfolded on Courts 5 and 1, as Nirundorn faced Bonding and Jefferson battled Rolland De Ravel. On Court 2, Claverie dropped his opening set 6-1 to No. 9 Chan, while Edengren continued his strong day with a first-set win against Dussault on Court 6.

As the second set progressed on each court, the outcome remained unclear.

Claverie was the first to push his match into a third set, rallying after a 6-2 opening loss to take the second set 6-3 against Chan. Perez-Ramos followed soon after on Court 3, forcing a deciding set against Cooper Woestendick after a 6-1 second-set win. Edengren also moved into a third set against Dussault.

Midway through singles play, concern spread across the courts when Nirundorn fell to the ground on Court 5. After spending several minutes on the bench, he returned to play with a slight limp.

“He sprained his ankle,” Steinberg said. “He’s had ankle issues off and on for a while …He’s a tough kid and we’ll address it and try to get him ready for Friday.”

Nirundorn ultimately fell 7-6, 6-4, giving TCU its first singles win.

Florida responded shortly after when Jeremy Jin earned the Gators’ first singles win with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Albert Pedrico on Court 4, tying the overall score at 1-1.

TCU quickly regained the lead at 2-1 following Nirundorn’s loss, but the remaining courts remained contested.

Perez-Ramos evened the match at 2-2 with a comeback win against Woestendick, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 on Court 3.

On Court 1, Jefferson battled through a tight-opening set before ultimately falling to De Ravel 7-6, 2-6, 6-0, giving TCU a 3-2 advantage.

Steinberg said Jefferson had been dealing with illness the past week, but praised his effort.

With the match hanging in the balance, the final two courts remained: Claverie against Chan on Court 2 and Edengren against Dussault on Court 6.

Edengren delivered for Florida, closing out a 6-2, 3-6 victory to level the overall match score once again and leave the outcome resting on Claverie’s court.

In front of a quiet crowd, Claverie and Chan battled through a tense third set that eventually reached a tiebreak. Chan pulled away 7-3 in the breaker to secure the deciding point for TCU. 

“He was moving well. He was playing aggressively. He went for it, and he has nothing to be ashamed of,” Steinberg said. “After the first set, he came back and raised his level, fought like crazy for the Gators, and that was great for him.”

Moving Forward

“This season is not in our rearview mirror. It’s in front,” Steinberg said. “These guys are resilient. If you come to practice tomorrow, they’re going to be ready to go.”

The Gators hit the court again at home at 5 p.m. Friday against No. 23 Mississippi.

Category: Gator Sports, Gators Tennis, Tennis