OXFORD, Miss. – The No. 26 Florida men’s tennis team went into enemy territory and handed No. 30 Ole Miss their first loss in the Southeastern Conference, 5-2, at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center on Thursday afternoon.
The Gators (7-7, 2-2 SEC) knew they were in for a tight match with the Rebels (12-3, 2-1 SEC) immediately, as the doubles competition was neck-and-neck on court one and two. Yet, Jonah Braswell/Lukas Greif were putting tremendous pressure on Isac Stromberg/Noah Schlagenhauf on court three. By converting three breaks, the Gators pair cruised to a 6-3 victory.
After No. 18 Will Grant/Axel Nefve fell to No. 59 Lukas Engelhardt/Nikola Slavic, 6-3, on court one, Nate Bonetto/Tanapatt Nirundorn stepped up to the challenge on court two for the third straight match. Florida’s tandem clinched the doubles point once again by converting a break on John Hallquist Lithen/Simon Junk’s serve at 5-4 to claim the match.
Florida stormed on into singles play by snatching five first sets and the initial point for the 2-0 lead came by retirement on court three, as Simon Junk was forced to retire down 5-1 to No. 79 Braswell. Returning to the lineup for the first time since Feb. 19, Togan Tokac never trailed against Isac Stromberg and breezed by 6-3, 6-1 for the first SEC victory of the Turkey native’s career.
On the next court over, Lukas Greif delivered the match clincher from court six in dominant fashion. After dropping only one game in the opening frame to Gordon Whitwell, 6-1, the senior remained in control in the second. Greif delivered the…
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