UK Men's Tennis falls 4-0 to Florida in SEC Championship

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The UK Men’s Tennis team made it all the way to the SEC Championship this weekend, but came up just short on Sunday afternoon in Athens. The three-seeded ‘Cats were swept 4-0 by the top-seeded Gators.

Florida sweeps Kentucky 4-0 in Athens

Kentucky swept Arkansas on Friday to set up a match with the Auburn Tigers in the semifinals on Saturday. The ‘Cats won that one 4-1, thanks to a gritty effort from the whole team. Junior Liam Draxl, last week’s SEC Player of the Week, was impressive as always. Draxl and partner Alexandre Leblanc opened their doubles match down 3-2, but took four straight games to win it.

Unfortunately, Kentucky’s luck would run out today against the No. 3 Florida Gators.

Florida (now 23-2 on the season) started the day strong in doubles play, earning their 18th-consecutive doubles point. Nate Bonetto and Duarte Vale took a 6-3 victory over Draxl and Leblanc. Meanwhile on court one, the No. 10-ranked duo of Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton beat Kentucky’s Musitelli and Millen Huron. The Gators took a 6-2 victory there as well, giving that duo their 15th doubles win of the season.

After their dominant doubles showing, the Gators needed just three singles wins to claim the SEC title — and they got them with relative ease. Florida’s Josh Goodger, ranked 116th, beat JJ Mercer 6-4, 6-1. It was Goodger’s 100th career singles win.

Over at court two, No. 27 Sam Riffice beat UK’s No. 16 Gabriel Diallo, winning in two sets by 6-3 scores. It was No. 1-ranked Ben Shelton, though, that sealed the deal for Florida. Shelton faced No. 8 Draxl, clinching the match for Florida for the sixth time this year. He defeated Draxl 6-4, 7-5 for his 30th singles win on the season. His effort earned him tournament MVP.

Your SEC All-Tournament Team 🤩

🔸 Ben Shelton, MVP
🔸 Duarte Vale#GoGators 🐊🎾 pic.twitter.com/PXmVfiQf2D
— Gators Men's Tennis (@GatorsMTN) April 24, 2022