Virginia men's tennis team tames No. 5 Gators

The second-ranked Virginia men’s tennis program notched another early season victory against a top rated opponent on Saturday, storming to a 6-1 bruising of the fifth-ranked Florida Gators.

Without the services of the nation’s top-ranked college player, Mitchell Frank, sidelined with a minor back injury, UVa coach Brian Boland was forced to alter his lineup at the last minute in both singles and doubles. The Cavaliers were expecting a battle from the Gators in doubles with all hands on deck. With Frank sidelined, things were expected to get tougher for the Cavaliers.

All three of Florida’s doubles teams are nationally ranked and they had yet to lose a single set in team match play through their first three matches this season. Boland improvised, inserting Phillipe Oudshoorn and Justin Shane in at No. 2 doubles. Oudshoorn and Shane are ranked 13th nationally, not bad for a last minute substitution. That moved Alex Domijan and Steven Rooda into the No. 3 slot.

Jarmere Jenkins and Drew Courtney, playing at their usual No. 1 doubles spot, made quick work of the fourth-ranked team of Nassim Slilam and Billy Federhofer of Florida, winning 8-3. Jenkins dazzled the crowd with his doubles play, as he had the previous night against Texas. Jenkins’ speed and quickness on the court bring an extra dimension to his partnership with Courtney, a doubles standout.

Shane and Oudshoorn lost 8-6 at No. 2 doubles, having been down as much as two service breaks earlier in the match. That left the outcome up to Domijan and Rooda, who were battling at 4-4 with Florida’s 25th-ranked duo of Andrew Butz and Bob van Overbeek. Big serves and big returns enabled Domijan and Rooda to take the last four games and capture the doubles point for Virginia with an 8-4 victory.

In singles, Florida had the benefit of a player fresh off the professional circuit, Florent Diep, who was ranked 673rd in the world in 2011. Diep, a native of Paris, enrolled at Florida in January and was undefeated in match play this season. Courtney, playing at No. 3, made surprisingly short work of Diep, 6-3, 6-2.

For Courtney, who should play a big role in the Cavaliers’ drive for a national championship this year, it was a welcome victory.

“I’m trying to get match tough. You can’t get that in practice,” said Courtney. “You need to play these matches. I’m playing well, but I need to keep playing matches.”

For a player on the comeback trail, Courtney’s play Saturday in singles and doubles is a welcome signal of what may lie ahead for the Cavaliers.

Adjusting his singles lineup for the absence of Frank, Boland placed Julen Uriguen and Oudshoorn in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles slots, respectively, with Shane seeing action at No. 4. All three won, but Oudshoorn provided the dramatics, rallying from a 6-3, 5-2 deficit to defeat 102nd-ranked Andrew Butz 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Florida gained its only point with Frank Carleton’s upset of Domijan in the No. 2 singles match. Domijan won the first set 6-4 but Carleton began attacking Domijan’s big serve, which seemed to falter as the match wore on. For Domijan, who finished last season ranked second in the country and was ranked preseason No. 1, Saturday was one of his rare stumbles in college tennis.

The Cavaliers close out their three-match home stand with Texas A&M today. Frank is expected to return to the lineup as Virginia faces the 11th-ranked Aggies. The match will be played at the Boars Head Sports Club starting at 1 p.m.