12 ALLIGATOR TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2022
MEN’S TENNIS
Florida tennis prepares for new season after national championship campaign A TALENTED ROSTER AND LAST YEAR’S SUCCESS BRING HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS SEASON
ing the title any differently than winning it in the first place. Riffice emphasized the team hopes to approach every game with the desire that led them through the NCAA Tournament last season. “We don’t have any of the wins we had last year, so I think everyone approaches it in that way and we’re excited to go have some good matches,” Riffice said. Along with Riffice, the Gators welcome back six others from last year: seniors Duarte Vale, Andy Andrade, Josh Goodger and Lukas Greif; junior Will Grant; and sophomore Ben Shelton. The team also adds three newcomers: freshman Nate Bonetto, Abedallah Shelbayh, and Michigan graduate transfer Mattias Siimar. With only six spots open in the lineup, the Gators have a pretty crowded roster. Riffice notes that the Gators have taken this competition in stride, embracing the constant pressure and consistent effort required to keep a starting position. “They know if they have a bad week they might not play that weekend,” Riffice said. “It kind of pushes everyone on each day in practice.” All three newcomers will be in the mix for starting spots after
By Joshua Morgan Sports Writer
The 2021 season welcomed unprecedented success for the Gators men’s tennis program. Florida not only claimed their first team national championship, but rising senior Sam Riffice also became the third Gator to win a national championship individually. A combination of elite returning talent plus a few new additions to the team fuel high expectations for Florida as UF enters 2022 as the preseason No. 1 and favorites to repeat. Being the highest ranked team comes with its own set of trials — as Florida will now be the team to beat for all other title contenders. No. 5 TCU had that in mind when it defeated Florida in its opening contest, 4-3. It was the first time the Gators had ever lost their first match of the season in program history. However, the team doesn’t view the challenge of defend-
Nate Bonetto asserted himself in the Fall, rising to No. 79 in the rankings. Shelbayh and Siimar make up the Gators’ highestranked doubles pairing at No. 14, despite having been paired with Vale and Andrade respectively in each of the first two matches. This is a great problem for the Gators to have, but head coach Bryan Shelton knows it will come with plenty of tough decisions throughout the season. “It’s really challenging,” Shelton said about balancing UF’s talented roster. “[We try] to weigh out long-term versus short-term gains and give guys opportunities to get their feet wet and compete and play.” Shelton is likely to experiment with different lineups this year in order to foster development. He believes that a winning formula is one where the primary goal is to help the players on the team improve individually and allow positive team results to follow. “It didn’t really matter who we put out there on the court,” Shelton said. “We felt very comfortable with all of our guys being able to go out there and compete at a high level.” Shelton’s philosophy faced a stiff test via a Texas road trip
Alligator File Photo
Head coach Bryan Shelton. filled with elite competition. After the loss to TCU, Florida needed a late comeback to defeat No. 3 Texas, 4-3, Sunday afternoon. “Our schedule is murderer’s row,” Shelton said. “We’re not shying away from competition so we’re gonna find out exactly what we’ve got from day one.” Florida continues its unfor-
giving slate when it hosts No. 11 UCF Saturday afternoon in its home opener. Matches will be held at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex and action begins at 12:30 p.m. @JoshuaMorgan37 jmorgan@alligator.org
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