Match had to be moved inside due to rain. I could not believe how far our coaching staff has taken this freshman laden team since January. Freshman performed like veterans. Blow out 4-0 Gator win is making some waves in the college tennis world this morning!
I was stunned the top 3 guys came out so strong in singles...dominated their first sets. And then to fight thru struggles in second sets to win all 3 matches. Especially sweet at 3, I had forgotten Tokac had transferred there. Was nice to see him blow a lead in both sets. Big big win to open SEC play, hoping they can continue to build on the momentum. Wish the bottom 3 courts had gotten some experience in as well And once again pathetic UF coverage. You have to dig all over for a link to the coverage, which is ridiculous. And then when it gets moved inside there is ZERO coverage, no camera and no live stats. So the only info is the UF M Tennis twitter....so knowing that is the only coverage you might think they provide regular scoring updates. Instead there is a blurb every 45 minutes-hour, usually just telling you somebody won a match. High schools do a better job.
Don't even get me started on this topic. Not only is there no cameras inside the indoor facility, but due to the fact there is no seating, the policy now is no one but ESSENTIAL personnel is allowed into the facility during a match. I had a hard time getting past the door. I would not take no for an answer and sat on wooden benches brought from the old Florida gym looking through porous wind screen. The whole setup is an embarrassment to Florida Gator athletics! I write a newsletter to all Gator tennis lettermen and boosters. It is very hard to write a good review if you are unable to actually see the match! There is a good chance Sunday's match against LSU will be moved inside due to weather. I have already cleared up the fact that I can get into the indoor facility without a problem on Sunday. We will see!
Do NOT get in the way of Coach Hoc heading to a match lol The media aspect of the men and women has been really bad this season....how on earth do you not provide timely media updates when you know there is no live video or stats. Just sloppy all year. How was the Tokac return received? Didn't seem like there was a lot if love from either side toward the end of his time here
Tokac played on the end court furthest away from me so I really didn't see him much. I did have an extended conversation with Aiden Kim today and he outlined what his mind set was while playing Tokac. As far as the kids approach to Tokac, they ignored him from what I observed.
As good a win as the Texas A&M match was, this LSU team coming in today is better than any of their teams in the past ten years! Another situation is we may not be at full strength for today's noon match. I am anxious to see how our youngsters react to this challenge just 48 hours after a great victory. Another issue is that our senior transfer from Gulf Coast is just about ready to resume training after an extended time away from the practice court. He would be a starter for us if it hadn't been for a lower leg injury a month ago. We need him back as soon as possible!
Speaking of LSU.....Andy Brandi passed away last month, put UF women's tennis on the map in an amazing run. Hate hearing we may be short handed today, really need to build on the win and grab conference matches at home. To insure postseason this is an important match. Johnson would be a huge help, experienced guy that we sorely need
Were on the verge of losing doubles point when weather hit......moved inside and lost the doubles point We will now go into a void of no info UF women at TAMU, lost the doubles point Briggs loses bad at #2, Rowinska loses bad at #6, Lopez won at 5 All other courts very tight.....UF won first sets at 3 and 4, losing 2nd sets on both. Gailis lost first set 4-6 and trails 4-5 ,so that's likely the clincher
Dudeney wins at 4 and Gailis loses at 1....4-2 TAMU A VERY disappointing season for the women continues
Ganesan not in the lineup for UF singles (he played doubles) UF down early on 1 and 2, Nate takes 1st set on 3
Little better with the scoring updates today Nate won both close sets for a win at 3 Jin lost a close first set, won second set TB, up a break in third set Kim won a close first, lost a close second, up 4-3 in third Nirundorn takes his first 6-4 REALLY want to win all 4 of these, Endgren and Jefferson are two largely untested freshmen at 5 and 6. They won't be untested if we drop a match on top 4 courts
Kim comes back in the third for his win Nirundorn scuffles a little at the end but closes the match out Wish they would let Jefferson and Endgren play for experience, but im sure TAMU is out of there for travel Making progress and finding their footing. Need to get healthy and sharpen doubles. Have to like the direction No comment on the women team
The weather delay during doubles was a god send! Our guys were scuffling a bit I believe from the aftermath of a great win over Texas A&M Friday night. The rain delay allowed our coaches to light a fire under the team before play resumed indoors due to the weather. Even though we lost the doubles point I knew we would be firing on all cylinders come singles. Billy Ganesan tried to go in doubles but was unable to compete in singles. That meant we had to move everyone in our lineup up one notch below Jeremy Jin who stayed at number one. Great win over an LSU team that was better than any Tiger squad in the last seven years in my opinion. I could talk about any of the four who won singles matches to clinch victory for Florida over LSU indoors this afternoon, but I want to highlight one guy who really impressed me today. Jeremy Jin is the most intense competitive player I have ever seen. His opponent was serving bombs all day long but Jeremy stayed in there game after game and wore his opponent down both physically and mentally in the third set. Great to start 2-0 in the conference but next weekend we run into two heavy weight SEC contenders at their place. Kentucky on Friday and Tennessee on Sunday.
