Florida Gators Men’s Tennis Crowned National Champions
Updated: May 28, 2021
The 2021 Florida Men’s Tennis Team made history Saturday night. The top-seeded Gators defeated the No. 2 Baylor Bears to claim the program’s first ever national title. Florida defeated Baylor 4-1 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
How it Happened
Despite dropping the doubles point to the Bears, the Gators refused to give up. Florida Head Coach Bryan Shelton’s son clinched the victory for the Gators. It was a storybook ending.
It was just after midnight when freshman Ben Shelton beat Charlie Broom in No. 5 singles. He rallied from a first-set loss to clinch the match with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over grad transfer Broom.
His win was the fourth singles win for the Gators in a matter of minutes.
Florida senior Andy Andrade beat Baylor’s Sven Lah, junior Sam Rifface took down Matias Soto and senior Josh Goodger defeated Spencer Furman.
History Made
Bryan Shelton became the first head coach in college tennis history to win both a women’s and a men’s national title. He claimed the women’s championship in 2007 while at Georgia Tech.
This was Shelton’s ninth season in charge of the Gators’ program. He took over in 2012 after 13 seasons at Georgia Tech.
A national championship marks the end of a remarkable season for the Gators. They finished with a 26-2 overall record and 12-0 in conference.
Florida men’s tennis first hit the court in 1940, but the program had never made it past the NCAA semifinals. 2021 is the year that changed that, the year that will be remembered forever.
Men’s tennis’ big win on Saturday marks the 42nd National Title in Gator athletics history.The team became the sixth Gator program to claim its first NCAA title in the last 12 seasons (baseball, gymnastics, softball, men’s tennis, men’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field).
What’s Next?
Saturday’s win marked the end of the 2021 campaign, but a few Gators moved on to compete in NCAA Individual Championships. Duarte Vale, Sam Rifface and Andy Andrade were selected to compete for the singles title and the combinations of Rifface/Vale and Johannes Ingildsen/Will Grant were selected to compete for doubles.
Rifface has advanced to the final of the NCAA Singles Tournament after a 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-1 victory over No. 1-seeded Liam Draxl of Kentucky on Thursday at the USTA National Campus.
The Gator captain's win sets him up for an all-Southeastern Conference matchup with No. 2-seeded Daniel Rodrigues of South Carolina at noon ET on Friday.
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