UCLA
Florida
Bruins Fall to Gators, 4-2, Leave Gainesville with Split
February 05, 2017 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE – The No. 6 UCLA men's tennis team dropped its first match of 2017 Sunday, as No. 11 Florida held on for a 4-2 win at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. The loss completed a split for the Bruins at the weekend Pac-12/SEC Showdown on the campus of the University of Florida.
All three matches were knotted at four games apiece at one point in doubles play, when the tides began to turn on each court. The Florida duo of Maxx Lipmann and Chase Perez-Blanco, with the backing of its home crowd, gave the Gators their first win, a 6-4 decision over Joseph Di Giulio and Austin Rapp on Court 2. UCLA's Gage Brymer and Maxime Cressy quickly answered on Court 3, though, as the pair recorded a 6-4 win over Florida's Elliott Orkin and McClain Kessler to put the clinching point on Court 1 for the second consecutive day.
Like Friday, Martin Redlicki and Evan Zhu accepted the challenge, as the Bruin duo again stepped forward with a point on the line. The team edged No. 3 Johannes Ingildsen and Alfredo Perez, 6-4, its second clincher over a nationally-ranked doubles team in as many days.
Florida responded by taking the first set on four of the six singles courts. The Gators picked up their first point of the day on a 6-1, 6-4 win by No. 67 Kessler over No. 90 Di Giulio on Court 4. Redlicki nixed Florida's momentum with a straight-set win over Perez-Blanco, 6-4, 6-2, on Court 2.
Logan Staggs of the Bruins fell to Ingildsen on Court 5, 6-4, 6-3, to even the match at two points apiece. Down one set on Court 3, Zhu went to a tiebreaker against Orkin, but could not force a deciding third set with the 64th-ranked player, who won 6-4, 7-6(4). Court 1 ultimately proved to be the site of the deciding point, as No. 13 Perez defeated No. 11 Brymer, 6-4, 6-3.
Sunday's match marked the third between the teams as part of the Pac-12/SEC Showdown. The Bruins captured the teams' meeting on the campus of USC in 2014 (Feb. 1), 4-1, while the Gators were narrowly victorious in Athens, Ga. one year later, 4-3 (Feb. 1, 2015).
Next up for the Bruins on their road trip is a Feb. 13 visit to Tulsa, and a match versus the Hurricane to be played at 4:00 p.m. PT.
#11 Florida 4, #6 UCLA 2
Doubles competition
1. Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) def. #3 Ingildsen/Perez (UF) 6-4
2. Perez-Blanco/Lipman (UF) def. Di Giulio/Rapp (UCLA) 6-4
3. Brymer/Cressy (UCLA) def. Orkin/Kessler (UF) 6-4
Singles competition
1. #13 Alfredo Perez (UF) def. #11 Gage Brymer (UCLA) 6-4, 6-3
2. Martin Redlicki (UCLA def. Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) 6-4, 6-2
3. #64 Elliott Orkin (UF) def. Evan Zhu (UCLA) 6-2, 7-6(4)
4. #67 McClain Kessler (UF) def. #90 Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA) 6-1, 6-4
5. Johannes Ingildsen (UF) def. Logan Staggs (UCLA) 6-4, 6-3
6. Austin Rapp (UCLA) vs. #98 Maxx Lipman (UF) 6-2, 3-6, 3-3, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,2,5,1,3)
Players Mentioned
