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Florida Gators men's tennis

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Florida Gators men's tennis
UniversityUniversity of Florida
Athletic directorScott Stricklin
ConferenceSEC
LocationGainesville, FL
Home CourtLinder Stadium
(Capacity: 1,000)
NicknameFlorida Gators
ColorsOrange and blue[1]
   
NCAA Tournament championships
2021
NCAA Tournament appearances
1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Conference Tournament championships
1994, 2000, 2005, 2011, 2016, 2022
Conference regular season champions
1950, 1961, 1968, 1969, 1975, 1994, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2019, 2021, 2022
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex, location of the home courts of the Florida Gators men's tennis team.

The Florida Gators men's tennis team represents the University of Florida in the sport of tennis. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team hosts its home matches in Linder Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.

Florida's men tennis program has consistently been one of the most successful in college tennis for the past several decades. Since the university's men's tennis program was established in 1932, Florida has won three NCAA singles championships, one NCAA doubles championship, eighteen SEC regular season and tournament titles, and one national team championship.

Team history

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The Florida Gators men's tennis team was established in 1932 under head coach Dennis K. "Dutch" Stanley. In eight years leading the Gators' tennis program, Stanley compiled a team win–loss record of 54–12 (.818), still the best coaching record in the history of the program as measured by winning percentage. Stanley, who also served as the head coach of Florida's football and track teams, left the university in 1940, but later returned as the first dean of its College of Health and Human Performance.

Florida's men's tennis program became the second at the school to win a Southeastern Conference championship (after men's swimming) upon winning the SEC tournament title in 1950. Overall, the program has earned twelve SEC team tournament championships (1950, 1961, 1968, 1969, 1975, 1994, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2019, 2021, 2022) along with twelve regular season conference crowns. Since there was no tournament held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gators enter the 2022–2023 season as the three-time defending SEC champions after compiling a 40–1 regular season conference record over that timeframe.[2]

Florida's men tennis program has been one of the nation's top college programs for several decades and have been invited to the NCAA men's tennis championship tournament every year save one (1996) since 1991 and are consistently ranked in the top-10. The Gators advanced to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals on numerous occasions and have an all-time record of 64–29 in NCAA tournament dual matches. They won their first team national championship in 2021.

In individual match play, Gators Mark Merklein and David Blair claimed the NCAA doubles championships in 1993. Merklein won the NCAA singles championship in 1994, losing just one set while defeating six tournament opponents. Gator Jeff Morrison claimed the NCAA singles championship in 1999, also losing only a single set on the way to the title. Sam Riffice won the NCAA singles championship in 2021, defeating the number one and two seeds in consecutive days.[3] The following year, Ben Shelton kept the NCAA singles championship in the program by winning the title in 2022.

Year-by-year results

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The Florida Gators overall record is 1,326–528–6 through the 2019–2020 season.[4]

Season Overall record SEC record National SEC Season SEC Tournament
1931–32 4–0
1932–33 4–0
1933–34 5–2
1934–35 4–5
1935–36 8–1
1936–37 6–0
1937–38 6–0
1938–39 6–0
1939–40 11–4
1940–41 10–2–1
1946–47 3–5–1 3rd
1947–48 9–6
1948–49 14–5–1 4th
1949–50 21–1 1st
1950–51 16–7 4th
1951–52 13–4
1952–53 15–3 T2nd
1953–54 14–3–1 4th
1954–55 16–1 2nd
1955–56 15–3 3rd
1956–57 18–3 3rd
1957–58 12–7 6th
1958–59 9–9 5th
1959–60 18–2 3rd
1960–61 20–1 1st
1961–62 15–5 T3rd
1962–63 11–4 18th 5th
1963–64 11–4 6th
1964–65 9–9 5th
1965–66 18–14 5th
1966–67 19–1–1 5th 3rd
1967–68 23–1 6th 1st
1968–69 19–1–1 6th 1st
1969–70 14–8 4th
1970–71 11–12 4th
1971–72 13–11 18th 5th
1972–73 20–6 22nd 3rd
1973–74 20–3 T13th 5th
1974–75 25–2 T8th T1st
1975–76 18–2 16th 3rd
1976–77 21–3 4th
1977–78 22–4 5th
1978–79 17–9 T5th
1979–80 15–9–1 6th
1980–81 23–6 5th
1981–82 20–7 T3rd
1982–83 14–10 T8th
1983–84 17–10 T6th
1984–85 16–11 5th
1985–86 19–10 T7th
1986–87 16–8 4th
1987–88 3–20 T6th
1988–89 14–11 9th
1989–90 17–9 - 7th
1990–91 19–8 T5th T3rd
1991–92 15–11 T9th 5th
1992–93 16–12 T9th 5th
1993–94 19–7 T9th 1st 1st
1994–95 18–11 T9th 5th
1995–96 16–9 T17th 5th
1996–97 31–1 T9th 5th
1997–98 27–0 T25th T6th
1998–99 31–2 T5th T3rd
1999–2000 25–3 10–1 T3rd 1st 1st
2000–01 9–17 3–8 T10th 3rd
2001–02 18–7 7–4 T9th T3rd 2nd
2002–03 25–5 11–0 T5th 1st
2003–04 18–7 8–3 T9th 2nd
2004–05 24–6 10–1 T3rd T1st 1st
2005–06 17–8 8–3 T9th T2nd
2006–07 15–8 7–4 T9th T3rd
2007–08 17–8 8–3 T9th 4th 2nd
2008–09 18–9 7–4 T17th T4th
2009–10 21–5 9–1 T9th 2nd 2nd
2010–11 20–9 7–4 T9th 5th 1st
2011–12 16–10 7–4 T9th 4th
2012–13 15–11 7–5 T33rd T3rd
2013–14 17–10 8–4 15th 4th 2nd
2014–15 14–9 8–4 T33rd T4th T5th
2015–16 21–7 10–2 T5th 2nd 1st
2016–17 19-10 9–3 T9th 3rd T3rd
2017–18 19-10 9-3 T8th 3rd T3rd
2018–19 25-4 12-0 T4th 1st T3rd
2019–20 15-3 3-1 N/A N/A (COVID)
2020–21 25-2 12-0 1st 1st 2nd
2021–22 26-3 12-0 1st 2nd 1st

All-Americans

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As of the end of the 2021–2022 season, thirty-one members of the Florida Gators men's tennis teams have earned sixty-one All-American honors.[2]

  • Ben Shelton - Singles (2021, 2022), 2022 NCAA Champion (singles)
  • Sam Riffice - Doubles (2020), Singles (2019, 2020, 2021), 2021 NCAA Champion (singles)
  • Oliver Crawford - Doubles (2020), Singles (2019, 2020)
  • Duarte Vale - Doubles (2018), Singles (2020, 2021)
  • McClain Kessler - Doubles (2018)
  • Johannes Ingildsen - Doubles (2017, 2018)
  • Alfredo Perez - Singles (2017, 2018), Doubles (2017, 2018)
  • Diego Hidalgo – Singles (2016), Doubles (2016)
  • Gordon Watson – Doubles (2016)
  • Florent Diep – Singles (2014)
  • Bob Van Overbeek – Doubles (2013)
  • Stephane Piro – Doubles (2013)
  • Sekou Bangoura – Doubles (2011)
  • Alexndre Lacroix – Singles (2010, 2011), Doubles (2010, 2011)
  • Antoine Benneteau – Doubles (2010)
  • Gregory Ouellette – Singles (2005, 2007, 2008), Doubles (2005, 2007)
  • Jesse Levine – Singles (2007), Doubles (2007)
  • Hamid Mirzadeh – Singles (2003, 2004, 2005), Doubles (2004, 2005)
  • Chris Brandi – Doubles (2004)
  • Janne Holmia – Singles (2003)
  • Justin O'Neal – Singles (1997, 1999, 2000)
  • Jeff Morrison – Singles (1999, 2000), Doubles (1999, 2000), 1999 NCAA Champion (singles)
  • Nathan Overholser – Singles (1999, 2000), Doubles (2000)
  • Damon Henkel – Singles (1994, 1995, 1996)
  • Dyllan Fitzgerald – Doubles (1994)
  • Mark Merklein – Singles (1993, 1994), Doubles (1993, 1994), 1993 NCAA Champion (doubles), 1994 NCAA Champion (singles)
  • David Blair – Doubles (1993), 1993 NCAA Champion (doubles)
  • Armistead Neely – Singles (1969), Doubles (1968)
  • Jamie Pressly – Singles (1969)
  • Bill Tym – Singles (1963)
  • Jim Shaffer – Singles (1961)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "UF Identity Style Guide". March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "2021-22 Men's Tennis Media Guide (PDF)" (PDF). Florida Gators. University of Florida Athletic Association.
  3. ^ "Riffice Wins NCAA Singles National Championship".
  4. ^ "2020-21 Men's Tennis Media Guide" (PDF).
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