Men's Tennis Central: #5 Tennessee vs. #1 Florida

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Following a 4-0 demolition of No. 12 South Carolina in Thursday's semifinal round of the SEC Tournament, the No. 5 Tennessee men's tennis team will take on No. 1 Florida for the right to hoist a trophy on Friday afternoon. First serve from the Billingsley Tennis Center is slated for 12:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

This will be the Vols first appearance on national television since falling in the 2019 SEC Tournament championship match to Mississippi State, 4-1.

Attendance for Friday's match is open to the public and will be done on a first-come, first-serve basis.

LAST TIME OUT
In its last outing, Tennessee ripped past No. 12 South Carolina, 4-0 to advance to Friday's championship match.

After senior Adam Walton and junior Pat Harper clinched a hard-fought doubles point, the Vols grabbed dominant straight-set victories from freshman Johannus Monday, junior Martim Prata and graduate student Giles Hussey.

The win propelled the Orange & White to their second consecutive SEC Championship match.

SCOUTING FLORIDA
Florida arrives at Friday's match on the backs of a pair of emotional wins over Mississippi State and Texas A&M. The Gators lost the doubles point in both matches, but bucked up and claimed victories at four singles positions to walk away with a 4-2 victory over the Bulldogs and a dramatic 4-3 triumph over A&M.

In the rankings, UF features five ranked singles players (No. 3 Duarte Vale, No. 6 Sam Riffice, No. 14 Andy Andrade, No. 56 Blaise Bicknell and No. 104 Josh Goodger) and two ranked doubles pairs (No. 15 Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton and No. 25 Johannes Ingildsen and Will Grant).

A win on Friday would give Tennessee two wins in the last three postseason meetings with the Gators following the Vols clutch, 4-3, victory in the 2019 semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

TENNESSEE IN SEC CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES
Tennessee holds a 3-5 record in tournament finals dating to the inception of the tournament in 1990.

The last time the Vols played Florida in the final of the SEC Tournament was in 2010, a match that saw UT trounce Florida, 4-0 to win its third SEC Tournament title.

That 2010 match marks the last team title of any kind for UT.

SCHEDULE SEQUENCE FAMILIAR FOR UT
Friday's match with Florida will conclude a three-match stretch where the Vols will have taken on Ole Miss, South Carolina and the Gators. UT took on the exact same sequence of matches from Feb. 28 through March 7.

Tennessee went 2-1 in those early season SEC matches, falling only to Florida, 5-2, on March 7 in Gainesville.

HUSSEY DOMINATING FOR VOLS
Graduate student Giles Hussey is a perfect 4-0 this week, grabbing a pair of dominant wins in doubles with partner Mark Wallner and two comprehensive straight-set victories in singles play.

This has Hussey in position to claim a spot on the SEC's all-tournament team heading into Friday's contest with the Gators.

UP NEXT
Following Friday's SEC Final, the Vols will await their path to an NCAA Championship with the 2021 Selection Show on Monday, May 3.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pat Harper

Giles Hussey

Johannus Monday

Martim Prata

Mark Wallner

Adam Walton

University of Tennessee Athletics