UF Men’s Tennis Wins in Coach Shelton’s Debut

The No. 12 Florida men’s tennis team got it’s dual match part of the schedule off to a good start, defeating the Miami Hurricanes 5-2.

First year Florida head coach Bryan Shelton is happy to put the first dual match of the season behind him and his team.

The Gators got off to a good start in doubles when the No. 2 doubles team featuring senior Billy Federhofer and freshman Gordon Watson took only 33 minutes to dispose of the Miami duo of junior Omar Aly and freshman William Albanese 8-1.

The No. 1 doubles team and the No. 45 doubles tandem in the country in juniors Michael Alford and Florent Diep also dominated and won and clinched the doubles point for Florida against Miami’s team of junior Marco Stancati and sophomore Wilfredo Gonzalez.

Coach Shelton was pleased with how the doubles team played.

The top three singles players for UF had little trouble in clinching the match against Miami.

Alford set the stage for the Gators at No. 3 singles and was first off the court beating Aly 6-0, 6-3  in just over 1 hour and 15 minutes. Alford says he is pleased with his performance.

Next off court was the junior from France in Stephane Piro, who used his lefty forehand in No. 2 singles defeating Gonzalez 6-3, 6-1.  Coach Shelton says Piro is the team’s flashy player.

Diep was the last Gator to win his match on Saturday defeating junior Diego Soto 6-0, 7-6 (4). Diep responded well in the second set after losing four games in a row during the set.

Freshman Gordon Watson clinched the match for the Gators defeating  senior Victor Mauz 6-4, 6-3.

However, not every match was perfect for the Gators as senior Billy Federhofer and freshman Luke Johnson both lost in No. 5 and No. 6 singles.

The No. 1 singles player from last year in senior Bob Van Overbeek did not play in the match due to coach’s decision.

The Gators next match will be against UCF on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Linder Stadium at The Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Fla.