UF's Jeremy Jin at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. [Valentina Sarmiento/WRUF]

Trouble for Florida Men’s Tennis at ITA Kickoff Weekend

The No. 17 Wake Forest Demon Deacons got their first ranked win of the year after beating the No.20 Florida Gators 4-1.

The Gators fall to 3-1, while the Demon Deacons improve to 3-1.

Rough start for the Gators

For the first time this season, the Gators lost the doubles point. Wake Forest’s DK Suresh Ekambaram-Holden Koons made quick work of Florida’s Jeremy Jin-Aidan Kim, winning 6-2. Luciano Tacchi-Luca Pow would win the doubles point for the Demon Deacons when they beat Nate Bonetto-JanMagnus Johnson 6-3.

 

New Territory

For the first time this year, the Gators would have to come back from a 1-0 deficit.

Ganesan started strong for the Gators by giving Thomson his first singles loss of the season, 6-2, 6-4, to tie the match at 1-1. However, this would be short-lived, as the Demon Deacons would win three straight to take the match.

Koons would take down undefeated Nirundorn 6-3, 6-2, followed by Tacchi giving Bonetto his first singles loss 6-4, 7-5. Pow would finish it off with a 6-3, 6-3, win over Johnson.

Till the very end

Even though both went unfinished, Kim and Jin put up a fight in their singles matches. Both were underdogs, as Jin took onΒ  Ekambaram. After losing the first set 6-4, Jin pushed set two to 6-6 leading to a tie-breaker. It would end 5-0 in Ekambaram’s favor and go unfinished.

Playing on court one were Moroni and Kim. Both coming off of a singles loss and looking to bounce back. Kim took the first set 6-3 and Morni would take the second 6-4. Kim was up 2-1 in the final set before it ended.

Florida will finish the ITA Kickoff weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Sunday when it will face either Illinois or North Carolina.

About Michael Tubbs

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