Florida Gators men's tennis

Last updated
Florida Gators men's tennis
Gators men's tennis logo.jpeg
University University of Florida
Athletic director Scott Stricklin
Head coach Bryan Shelton
Conference SEC
Location Gainesville, FL
Home Court Linder Stadium
(Capacity: 1,000)
Nickname Florida 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. UF ScottLinderStadium.jpg
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. Bryan Shelton has served as the men's tennis coach since 2013.

Contents

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

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

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

SeasonOverall RecordSEC RecordNationalSEC SeasonSEC Tournament
1931–324–0––––
1932–334–0––––
1933–345–2––––
1934–354–5––––
1935–368–1––––
1936–376–0––––
1937–386–0––––
1938–396–0––––
1939–4011–4––––
1940–4110–2–1––––
1946–473–5–1––3rd–
1947–489–6––––
1948–4914–5–1––4th–
1949–5021–1––1st–
1950–5116–7––4th–
1951–5213–4––––
1952–5315–3––T2nd–
1953–5414–3–1––4th–
1954–5516–1––2nd–
1955–5615–3––3rd–
1956–5718–3––3rd–
1957–5812–7––6th–
1958–599–9––5th–
1959–6018–2––3rd–
1960–6120–1––1st–
1961–6215–5––T3rd–
1962–6311–4–18th5th–
1963–6411–4––6th–
1964–659–9––5th–
1965–6618–14––5th–
1966–6719–1–1–5th3rd–
1967–6823–1–6th1st–
1968–6919–1–1–6th1st–
1969–7014–8––4th–
1970–7111–12––4th–
1971–7213–11–18th5th–
1972–7320–6–22nd3rd–
1973–7420–3–T13th5th–
1974–7525–2–T8thT1st–
1975–7618–2–16th3rd–
1976–7721–3––4th–
1977–7822–4––5th–
1978–7917–9––T5th–
1979–8015–9–1––6th–
1980–8123–6––5th–
1981–8220–7––T3rd–
1982–8314–10––T8th–
1983–8417–10––T6th–
1984–8516–11––5th–
1985–8619–10––T7th–
1986–8716–8––4th–
1987–883–20––T6th–
1988–8914–11––9th–
1989–9017–9–-7th–
1990–9119–8–T5thT3rd–
1991–9215–11–T9th5th–
1992–9316–12–T9th5th–
1993–9419–7–T9th1st1st
1994–9518–11–T9th5th–
1995–9616–9–T17th5th–
1996–9731–1–T9th5th–
1997–9827–0–T25thT6th–
1998–9931–2–T5thT3rd–
1999–200025–310–1T3rd1st1st
2000–019–173–8T10th3rd–
2001–0218–77–4T9thT3rd2nd
2002–0325–511–0T5th1st–
2003–0418–78–3T9th2nd–
2004–0524–610–1T3rdT1st1st
2005–0617–88–3T9thT2nd–
2006–0715–87–4T9thT3rd–
2007–0817–88–3T9th4th2nd
2008–0918–97–4T17thT4th–
2009–1021–59–1T9th2nd2nd
2010–1120–97–4T9th5th1st
2011–1216–107–4T9th4th–
2012–1315–117–5T33rdT3rd–
2013–1417–108–415th4th2nd
2014–1514–98–4T33rdT4thT5th
2015–1621–710–2T5th2nd1st
2016–1719-109–3T9th3rdT3rd
2017–1819-109-3T8th3rdT3rd
2018–1925-412-0T4th1stT3rd
2019–2015-33-1N/AN/A (COVID)–
2020–2125-212-01st1st2nd
2021–2226-312-01st2nd1st

All-Americans

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]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "UF Identity Style Guide". March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "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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