GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the Gators third straight conference match against a top-10 foe, No. 21 Florida men’s tennis gave No. 5 Kentucky all they could handle at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex, but couldn’t overcome the Wildcats and fell 5-2 on Friday’s Senior Night.
For just the second time all season outdoors and for the first time since March 18, Florida (13-11, 5-6 SEC) dropped the doubles point to start the match against Kentucky (21-4, 9-3 SEC). Both teams found themselves in a 1-1 crossroads in doubles competition with No. 6 Will Grant/Axel Nefve earning their seventh victory against a top-50 opponent, beating No. 26 Alafia Ayeni/Taha Baadi, 6-4. Despite being broken in the first game of the match, Grant/Nefve converted a break to tie the match at 3-3 and converted their second break up 5-4 to complete the comeback for the first doubles win.
On court three, Liam Draxl/Jaden Weekes answered with a 6-3 victory and increased the pressure for the pairs on court two. Both Nate Bonetto/Tanapatt Nirundorn and No. 65 Joshua Lapadat/JJ Mercer held on each of their service games, in spite of two break point opportunities – at 0-0 and at 1-1 – for the Gators pair. The match went to a tiebreak and Lapadat/Mercer converted a mini-break for the 2-0 lead and helped distance themselves for the 7-5 win in the breaker.
With the Wildcats securing a 1-0 match lead, the Gators would need four singles victories to earn the victory. Kentucky quickly extended their lead to 3-0, but No. 106 Jonah Braswell picked up revenge on court three after facing No. 48…
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