Tennis this weekend

Scraping and clawing.....the 3 freshmen are struggling mightily so it took them squeezing out a close doubles point and then Gailis winning a third set for the 4-3 win

Men won yesterday despite bad doubles as usual

 

They actually played a walkon that's not even on the roster at 5....and forfeited 6
Gatenby and Daubernova sat, along with usual non participants Emily and lopez

 

I dont follow tennis that closely but cant recall both the men and women's program struggling this much so what is the current issue? Weak coaching, poor recruiting, injuries, transfers, NIL, all of the above, etc?

Just curious. I have a good Gator friend that is a retired tennis coach and he no longer follows the team out of frustration.

 

IMO Thornquist slowly ran the womens team down....then to quit during the fall put the new staff in total limbo. Then add in a pretty decent squad decimated by injuries.....De Oliviera would have been near the top of the order, has essentially missed all of last season and this season. Lopez hasn't played at all this year, still on the roster so assume injury....she would likely be a steady #3. Gailis has been in and out of the lineup, she's a top 10 national player when healthy. 3 true freshman have been forsced to play at #3,#4, #6 and all have taken their lumps.

Men losing Shelton as coach was tough, and he didn't leave the roster at the level it was during the big run. Team has lost some talent to the portal and the new players haven't been up to the level needed. None of the freshmen on the roster have moved the needle (not saying they won't have decent careers) and the portal has really only been an out door. It's still a relatively young team, so they should keep getting better, but at this juncture I don't see anything that leads to them getting back to being a top ten type squad. They do seem to battle pretty hard, just outmanned vs good teams.

Also both teams have been pretty awful in doubles, so they often are battling to win 4 singles matches much of the time.

 

Men underway at Ole Miss, should be a win
Up a break on every doubles court early

Women at home vs Missou, also needs to be a win. Daubernova still out it appears....so new addition Parker playing at 6.
Doubles, up 5-0 on 1, down 0-4 on 2, 2-2 on 3...which will clearly determine the doubles point

 

Men fell apart on 1, but won on 2 and 3 to claim the doubles point
Women win 6-1 on 1, lose 6-0 on 2, 3-3 on 3....having a feeling it's gonna be like this in singles too, a couple of blowouts and some key deciders
For perspective Mizzou is 1-6 in SEC play and has no ranked players

Women on court 3 go from up 2-1 to losing 3-6.....will be very difficult to win 4 singles with lower portion of this lineup. After Gailis at 1 and Dudeney at 2 I'm not confident in any matches

 

Men scuffling a bit in singles
Jefferson blitzed 6-0 at #4 and Jin down a break on 1, Weintraub down a break on 6 (nobody seems to want that 6 slot, tried everyone)
Everyone else on serve

Womens singles matches all close early except Parker on 6 who is getting killed

 

Women
Gailis fell behind but charging back, Dudeney up 5-3, Spee won 1st 6-0
Oliveras and Parker getting flattened, Gatenby likely the decider and she trails 3-5 in first. Looking like a very very bad loss at home

Men
Jin loses 1st 4-6, Ganesan wins 6-4, Johnson in a TB, Jefferson lost first 0-6 but up 5-4 in 2nd, Nirundorn down 5-6, Weintraub lost 3-6
Still up for grabs, need Johnosn or Nirundorn to grab a first set

 

Nirundorn and Johnson both lose first sets, Ole Miss takes 5 first sets. Ugly

 

Women....Parker loses 0-0, clearly not a player for this level, Oliveras loses 2 and 3, Spee one game away from win, Gailis and Dudeney should be ok. Gatenby at 2-2 and down a set

Men
Ganesan with a nice win, Jefferson blows a second set lead and loses match, Weintraub loses 3 and 3, Johnson rebounds with a 5-1 second set lead, Jin up 6-5 in 2nd, Nirundorn up 3-2 in 2nd
Have to force 3rd sets and win a couple

 

Spee and Dudeney with solid wins to get UF on the board. Gatenby goes up a break 4-2 in her 2nd. Still some life nut Missou up 3-2

Johnson forces a 3rd set, Jin the same with a 2nd set TB win, Nirundorn loses 2 straight to trail 3-4. Need 2 of the 3 remaining

 

Gailis gets it done to even the match 3-3
Gatenby was serving for the second set and held set point....couldn't convert and it's 5-5 now. Find out if the freshman has enough

Nirundorn went up 5-4, now down 5-6 in his second
Jim and Johnson both at 2-2 in 3rd, looks like UF needs both
edit...Nirundorn forces a TB as I type

 

Gatenby loses the tiebreak, her match, and the team match. None of the 3 freshmen win a set in singles at home vs a bad opponent. Bad bad loss regardless of being short handed

Johnson wins his 3rd set for men's 3rd point
Jin down 4-5 in 3rd
Nirundorn has had a bunch of set points in the tiebreak but can't convert until 11-9...forces a third

Jin gets it to 5-5

 

Jin wins another tiebreak and the match
Tracker now says it was Edengren instead of Nirundorn.....but won that match too
Men buckle down and get a nice road win

 

Women hosting Vandy, men in Nashville
Women about to lose the doubles point

 

Women getting absolutely demolished, won't last long.....beaten badly in first sets on courts 2-6

 

UF 3 freshmen all killed....4-0 Vandy. And Vandy has 2 freshmen in their top 5

Gailis and Dudeney won their matches....5-2 Vandy final