Gators Devour M. Tennis

The Florida men’s tennis team was just a little too fast for co-captain David Lingman and junior Jonathan Chu.

Not that either one was shut out or badly beaten—it was just that neither one had the chance to play his match to competion.

The No. 3 Gators were so efficient in upending Harvard 4-0 at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Washington, that neither member of the Crimson’s top duo was able to finish either of his matches, since Florida had already racked up the requisite number of victories to earn first the doubles point and then the match.

Although its top players ranked higher than their Harvard counterparts, the Gators won with depth, rather than taking chances waiting for the results at the top.

No. 32 Trey Johnson and Vlad Obradovic racked up a victory over senior Mark Riddell and sophomore Brandon Chiu, 8-5, to get Florida half of the two matches necessary to earn the doubles point.

Janne Holmia and Martin Stiegwardt ensured that the Gators would get the other half.

Florida’s No. 3 duo smoked Harvard’s combination of senior Chris Chiou and freshman Jack Li, 8-1, jumping straight out of the gate and never looking back to secure the point before Lingman and Chu finished their match with Ham Mirzadeh and Chris Brandi.

Of the four left standing on the court when action was halted, only Brandi would actually finish his next match.

Playing in the No. 4 singles, Brandi easily coasted past Crimson co-captain Cliff Nguyen in straight sets, winning 6-2, 6-2, to capture the first of three singles points for the Gators.

Obradovic scored his second victory of the day over Riddell in the No. 3 position in similarly commanding fashion, dropping just three games and never surrendering the momentum at 6-1, 6-2.

At No. 6, Li lost to Florida’s Stef Tell, losing the momentum of a strong start.

Though he was able to win three games during the first set in defeat and held close throughout, Li was unable to build upon his success in the second set. Tell convincingly slammed the door in his—and Harvard’s—face, sweeping all six games in the second frame to close out the Crimson.

That left unresolved the pairing of No. 24 Mirzadeh and No. 38 Lingman, who were on the court when the victory was sealed, as were No. 9 Holmia and Chu. Chiou and Ryan Sherry did not finish their match either.

The team members could not be reached for comment.