Florida Men’s Tennis Upsets Auburn, Advances to SEC Quarters
No. 9 Florida men’s tennis upset No. 8 Auburn in its first SEC Tournament match to advance to the quarterfinals Thursday.
After the Gators (16-12, 6-8 SEC) fell behind early to the Tigers (16-10, 6-8 SEC) in the second round, they surged back, winning four of five singles matches to secure the victory.
A strong SEC Tournament run could increase Florida’s chances of hosting a regional in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators clinched the match when No. 63 Henry Jefferson won a 7-2 tiebreaker in the third set against Freddy Blaydes.
Florida started doubles play strong. Its court two duo of Adhithya Ganesan and Pablo Perez Ramos earned a convincing 6-1 win over Nicholas Heng and Alan Bojarski, putting the Gators one match away from the doubles point.
However, Auburn’s top-ranked pairing, No. 16 Freddy Blaydes and Billy Blaydes, responded with a 6-4 win on court one over No. 9 Henry Jefferson and Tanapatt Nirundorn.
The doubles point came down to court three, where Florida’s Lorenzo Claverie and Kevin Edengren faced Auburn’s Jake Kennedy and Hamza Nasridinov.
The two sides split the first 10 games in a tightly contested set. When it mattered most, Auburn’s pair won the next two games to secure the doubles point.
Singles play was equally competitive, with only two of six matches decided in straight sets—both going in Florida’s favor.
Edengren was first to finish, defeating Manel Lazaro on court six in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
His win was followed by his doubles partner Claverie. After taking the first set 6-3, Claverie was pushed to a tiebreaker in the second by No. 76 Billy Blaydes. Claverie dominated the tiebreaker 7-1 to give Florida its first lead.
No. 62 Perez Ramos put the Gators one point away from advancing, defeating Bojarski 6-2 in the third set after splitting the first two.
The clinching point did not come from No. 102 Jeremy Jin, who was upset by unranked Nicholas Heng. Jin won the first set but dropped the next two, both 6-4.
Jefferson ultimately closed out the match. After losing the first set to Freddy Blaydes, he responded by winning the second to force a decisive third. The set went to a tiebreaker, where Jefferson pulled away with a 7-2 win to send Florida to the quarterfinals.
The Gators will face top-seeded Texas Longhorns men’s tennis in the quarterfinals. In their previous meeting this season, Texas defeated Florida 4-1.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Tennis
