TUCSON, Ariz. – The Florida Gators men’s tennis team gave it their all, but dropped in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Oklahoma State 4-2 at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center on Friday afternoon to end their season.
In doubles, Florida (14-14, 5-7 SEC) were playing close with Oklahoma State (14-13, 0-5 BIG 12), but the Cowboys outlasted the Gators. At one doubles, No. 5 Will Grant/Axel Nefve were leveled at 3-3 with No. 78 Chase Ferguson/Tyler Zink, but couldn’t fend the pair off and lost the last three games to fall first.
With Tanapatt Nirundorn out due to injury, Borys Zgola moved into the two position with Nate Bonetto against Isaac Becroft/Alex Garcia. Bonetto/Zgola were broken in the first service game to open the match and couldn’t catch back up, ultimately losing 6-4 and Becroft/Garcia clinched the doubles point.
Court three was the strongest match for Florida, as Jonah Braswell/Lukas Greif led 5-4 against Alessio Basile/Carl Roothman. The match ended with Oklahoma State hoping to hold serve and equalize, but it was left unfinished.
The Gators quickly tied the match thanks to No. 86 Braswell making quick work of Garcia on court three. After dropping just one game in the opening frame for the first set advantage, Braswell was broken in his opening service game to start the second. Unfazed, the freshman immediately broke back and secured the set 6-3 for the straight set victory. The win was Braswell’s 29th of the season and team-leading 14th in dual play. The 29 overall victories are the most by a Florida freshman since 2017.
Oklahoma State retook the lead, adding back-to-back points on court five and two, respectively. Basile took down Bonetto, 6-4, 6-3 before No. 94 Becroft outlasted No. 91 Grant in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 putting the Cowboys within one of the victory.
The remaining three courts found themselves in tight matchups, especially Olek Orlikowski on court six. The freshman and Roothman held serve up until 5-5 in the first frame, when Roothman converted a break and served it out for the 7-5 set. The native of Poland was determined to bounce back and pounced on Roothman for the 4-1 lead before moving past with a 7-5 second set. From there, Orlikowski took charge of the…
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