COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 19 Florida men’s tennis team fell in an incredibly tight match, 4-3, to No. 25 Texas A&M at the Mitchell Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
Utilizing clinical doubles play to begin the match, Florida (10-8, 5-3 SEC) pounced on Texas A&M (12-8, 5-3 SEC) for the 1-0 lead and snatched up the doubles point. On court two, Nate Bonetto/Tanapatt Nirundorn converted a break on deuce for the 2-1 lead over Pierce Rollins/Kenner Taylor and never lost grasp. The Gators pair converted two more breaks and punched in Florida’s first doubles win, 6-2.
Despite being down a break at 4-2 against No. 39 Trey Hilderbrand/Noah Schachter, No. 29 Will Grant/Axel Nefve bounced back to win three straight games for the 5-4 lead on court one. The match was sent to a tiebreak and Florida’s tandem earned a minibreak to go up 2-1 and surged forward with a 7-5 decision. By taking down the Aggies’ 39th ranked tandem, Grant/Nefve added their sixth ranked-victory of the spring and fifth against a top-50 tandem.
In spite of going unfinished, Jonah Braswell/Lukas Greif were well in control of the match on court three against Giulio Perego/Raphael Perot. With a 5-3 advantage prepared to serve, the Gators duo converted a break at 4-2 as the Aggies double-faulted two times in a row. Florida faced deuce point six times in the match.
Singles play started with a string of wins for the Aggies, as Texas A&M earned straight set wins on courts one, two and four, respectively. Down by a score of 3-1 in the overall match, Nirundorn brought the Gators back within one. In the singles lineup for the first time since Jan. 21, the freshman was tied at 4-4 against Luke Casper in the first and converted a break to snatch the set, 7-5. The native of Thailand found himself deadlocked again in the second, but at 5-5, and converted a crucial break. Nirundorn served out the match, earning the victory in straights, 7-5, 7-5. For Nirundorn, the win is his first in the SEC and second in dual play.
Veteran Gator, Greif, refused to let up on court five. After dropping the opening set, 6-4, to No. 113 Hilderbrand, the senior sped to a 4-0 advantage in the second frame. Hilderbrand climbed back and sent the match to a tiebreak, where Greif was down 4-2 initially. The senior won five of the next six points and forced a third set decider. Looking for his first ranked-victory in dual play, Greif converted a break on Hilderbrand’s serve for the 5-3 advantage…
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