Florida fell 4-3 in a tight battle against No. 18 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men’s tennis team fell 4-3 to No. 18 Tennessee at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex on Saturday afternoon. UF secured the doubles point, but the Volunteers rallied late in singles play to secure the win.
On the doubles side, Kevin Edengren<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/kevin-edengren/16662> and Ben Weintraub<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/ben-weintraub/17051> finished first for the Gators, defeating Jan Kobierski and Jose Garcia 6-0 on court three. Tennessee’s Shunsuke Mitsui and Alan Jesudason defeated Adhithya Ganesan<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/adhithya-ganesan/16660> and Jeremy Jin<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/jeremy-jin/16118> 7-5 on court two.
UF claimed the doubles point after No. 23 Tanapatt Nirundorn<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/tanapatt-nirundorn/16114> and Henry Jefferson<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/henry-jefferson/16661> took the 7-5 victory over No. 12 Alex Kotzen and Alejandro Moreno.
Jefferson extended the Gators lead with the first singles win of the day. Jefferson faced Jesudason on court five and took a 6-3, 6-3 straight set victory.
No. 95 Ganesan earned the third point for Florida as he cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 25 Kotzen on court one.
The Gators led 3-0 before Edengren dropped his match on court four. Edengren fell 6-4, 6-4 to Garcia giving the Volunteers their first point of the match.
Tennessee didn’t stop there as No. 31 Mitsui used extended sets to defeat No. 68 Jin. Jin took the first set 7-5, but Mitsui recorded back-to-back 6-1 wins in the second and third set to cut into the Gators lead.
The Volunteers pushed back leveling the match at 3-3 on court six. Niels Villard<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/niels-villard/17561> fell in a three-set outing against Ian Cruz. Villard took the first set 6-2, but Cruz regained control taking the second set 6-3. Villard battled, but ultimately fell 6-3 in the third.
The final point was left up to court three which featured JanMagnus Johnson<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/janmagnus-johnson/17174> and Moreno. Moreno took the first set 6-4, but Johnson regained control to take the second 6-4. In the final set, Johnson could not hold on falling 6-1.
Singles competition
1. #95 Adhithya Ganesan<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/adhithya-ganesan/16660> (UF) def. #25 Alex Kotzen (TENN) 6-3, 6-4
2. #31 Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) def. #68 Jeremy Jin<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/jeremy-jin/16118> (UF) 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
3. Alejandro Moreno (TENN) def. JanMagnus Johnson<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/janmagnus-johnson/17174> (UF) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
4. Jose Garcia (TENN) def. Kevin Edengren<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/kevin-edengren/16662> (UF) 6-4, 6-4
5. Henry Jefferson<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/henry-jefferson/16661> (UF) def. Ian Cruz (TENN) 6-3, 6-3
6. Jan Kobierski (TENN) def. Niels Villard<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/niels-villard/17561> (UF) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 5,1,4,2,6,3
Doubles competition
1. #23 Tanapatt Nirundorn<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/tanapatt-nirundorn/16114>/Henry Jefferson<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/henry-jefferson/16661> (UF) def. #12 Alex Kotzen/Alejandro Moreno (TENN) 7-5
2. Shunsuke Mitsui/Alan Jesudason (TENN) def. Adhithya Ganesan<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/adhithya-ganesan/16660>/Jeremy Jin<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/jeremy-jin/16118> (UF) 7-5
3. Kevin Edengren<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/kevin-edengren/16662>/Ben Weintraub<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/ben-weintraub/17051> (UF) def. Jan Kobierski/Jose Garcia (TENN) 6-0
Order of finish: 3,2,1
NEXT UP:
The Gators travel to Columbia to face the No. 21 South Carolina in their final match ahead of the SEC Tournament. Florida will face the Gamecocks on Saturday, April 12 at 5 p.m. at the Carolina Tennis Center.
ITA RANKINGS
As a team, Florida sits at No. 32 in the ITA rankings. Two Gators are ranked in singles competition: Jeremy Jin<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/jeremy-jin/16118> at No. 68 and Adhithya Ganesan<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/adhithya-ganesan/16660> at No. 95. UF also has two ranked doubles pairs, Tanapatt Nirundorn<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/tanapatt-nirundorn/16114> and Henry Jefferson<https://floridagators.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/henry-jefferson/16661> sit at No. 23, followed by Nirundorn and Ganesan at No. 70.
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