Special to GC
ATHENS, Ga. - Following an impressive outing against the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, the No. 17 Florida Gators proved their potential once again in a 4-3 victory over No. 4 UCLA on the final day of the SEC/Pac-12 Showdown at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility in Athens, Ga., Sunday afternoon. For the first time in the previous three matches, Florida captured the doubles point and earned an early edge over the Bruins. No. 49 Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin defeated Joseph di Giulio and Karue Sell, 6-0, and No. 43 Oliver Landert and Joshua Wardell sealed the deal with a 6-4 win over UCLA's Dennis Mkrtcian and Austin Rapp. The Bruins refused to back down despite falling behind early, and secured the first two singles wins of the match at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions to take a 2-1 match lead. The Gators responded with a win at No. 3 singles, as No. 60 Diego Hidalgo defeated Gage Brymer in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, keeping his undefeated 2015 dual match record alive. Junior Gordon Watson followed up with a hard fought 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-3 win over the Bruins' No. 88 Martin Redlicki to regain the lead for Florida, 3-2. Florida's Wardell held strong at No. 6 after dropping the first set and took the second from UCLA's No. 90-ranked Rapp, but fell to Rapp in the third, which evened the match score at three apiece. It all came down to the No. 5 singles matchup between Landert and di Giulio, who split sets, 6-3, 3-6. With the third set tied at three games each, Landert pulled away and clinched the match with a 6-3 win in the third. The Gators travel to Tallahassee on Friday, Feb. 6 to take on another ranked opponent, No. 33 Florida State, at 5 p.m. at the Speicher Tennis Center. 2015 University of Florida Men's Tennis Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility Athens, Georgia Sunday, February 1, 2015 Doubles FLORIDA vs UCLA Winner Score/match length Gordon Watson (32) Mackenzie McDonald (11) No. 1 - Diego Hidalgo (32) Martin Redlicki (11) UCLA 6-1 Maxx Lipman (49) Joseph di Giulio No. 2 - Elliott Orkin (49) Karue Sell UF 6-0 Oliver Landert (43) Dennis Mkrtchian No. 3 - Josh Wardell (43) Austin Rapp *UF 6-4 Singles FLORIDA vs UCLA Winner Score/match length No. 1 - Maxx Lipman (34) Mackenzie McDonald (7) UCLA 6-1, 6-1 No. 2 - Elliott Orkin (81) Dennis Mkrtchian UCLA 6-4, 6-1 No. 3 - Diego Hidalgo (60) Gage Brymer UF 6-4, 6-3 No. 4 - Gordon Watson Martin Redlicki (88) UF 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-3 No. 5 - Oliver Landert Joseph di Giulio *UF 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 No. 6 - Joshua Wardell Austin Rapp (90) UCLA 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 FINAL SCORE: Florida - 4 UCLA - 3 * Clinched victory Records: Florida 4-2 UCLA 3-2 Order of Finish: Doubles: 2, 1, 3 Singles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5 Attendance: 196 Quotes from the Match Shelton's Notes - Head Coach Bryan Shelton On the keys to taking down No. 4 UCLA... Our guys came out fired up today and set the tone early in doubles. Elliott Orkin and Maxx Lipman played their best doubles so far and Oliver Landert and Josh Wardell did a fantastic job clinching the doubles point. I was very impressed with Diego Hidalgo's play throughout the weekend and he competed very well again today. Gordon Watson is really starting to get back to himself on the court. He played well on the big points, especially in the tiebreakers. Oliver handled the pressure well today. It was so much fun to see him serve and volley on the biggest points of the match with conviction. All in all, just a team win today. We'll enjoy the bus ride home and then it's time to get ready for FSU.