Florida Gators men's tennis
Encyclopedia
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in the sport of tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
(SEC). The team hosts its home matches in Linder Stadium
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex is the intercollegiate tennis facility at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. It is home stadium and training facility for the Florida Gators women's tennis and the Florida Gators men's tennis teams.- Stadium :Linder Stadium is a 1,000-seat...
on the university's Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
campus, and is currently led by head coach Andy Jackson
Andy Jackson (tennis)
David Andrew "Andy" Jackson is an American college tennis coach and former college player. He is the current head coach of the Florida Gators men's tennis team of the University of Florida...
. In the seventy-nine-year history of the Gators men's tennis program, the Gators have won eight SEC team championships, two NCAA singles championships and one NCAA doubles championship.
Team history
The Florida Gators men's tennis team was started by head coach Dennis K. "Dutch" StanleyDennis K. Stanley
Dennis Keith "Dutch" Stanley, Sr. was an American education professor, university administrator and intercollegiate sports coach. Stanley was a native of England, but graduated from high school in Florida...
in 1932. 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 the Gators football and track teams, left the university in 1940, but later returned as the first dean of its College of Health and Human Performance
University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance
The University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance is a college at the University of Florida. The college has three departments, and four research centers. The college is unique in that the majors that are offered are inter-disciplinary in nature...
.
The Gators have won eight Southeastern Conference team championships (1961, 1968, 1969, 1975, 1994, 2000, 2003, 2005).
They Gators men's tennis team has never won an NCAA national team championship, but were championship runners-up in 2000 and 2003. In individual match play, Gators Mark Merklein
Mark Merklein
Mark Merklein is a former college and professional tennis player from the Bahamas.Merklein was born in Freeport, Bahamas. He received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for the Florida Gators men's tennis team in National...
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
Jeff Morrison
Jeffrey Alan "Jeff" Morrison is an American professional tennis player.Morrison is perhaps best known for being the last American male left standing in the singles draw at Wimbledon in 2002....
claimed the NCAA singles championship in 1999, also losing only a single set on the way to the title.
Year-by-year results
The Florida GatorsFlorida Gators
The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
overall record is 1,079-440 through the 2007-2008 season.
| Season | Overall Record | SEC Record | National | SEC Season | SEC Tournament |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931-32 | 4-0 | - | - | - | - |
| 1932-33 | 4-0 | - | - | - | - |
| 1933-34 | 5-2 | - | - | - | - |
| 1934-35 | 4-5 | - | - | - | - |
| 1935-36 | 8-1 | - | - | - | - |
| 1936-37 | 6-0 | - | - | - | - |
| 1937-38 | 6-0 | - | - | - | - |
| 1938-39 | 6-0 | - | - | - | - |
| 1939-40 | 11-4 | - | - | - | - |
| 1940-41 | 10-2-1 | - | - | - | - |
| 1946-47 | 3-5-1 | - | - | 3rd | - |
| 1947-48 | 9-6 | - | - | - | - |
| 1948-49 | 14-5-1 | - | - | 4th | - |
| 1949-50 | 21-1 | - | - | 1st | - |
| 1950-51 | 16-7 | - | - | 4th | - |
| 1951-52 | 13-4 | - | - | - | - |
| 1952-53 | 15-3 | - | - | T2nd | - |
| 1953-54 | 14-3-1 | - | - | 4th | - |
| 1954-55 | 16-1 | - | - | 2nd | - |
| 1955-56 | 15-3 | - | - | 3rd | - |
| 1956-57 | 18-3 | - | - | 3rd | - |
| 1957-58 | 12-7 | - | - | 6th | - |
| 1958-59 | 9-9 | - | - | 5th | - |
| 1959-60 | 18-2 | - | - | 3rd | - |
| 1960-61 | 20-1 | - | - | T10th | - |
| 1961-62 | 15-5 | - | - | T3rd | - |
| 1962-63 | 11-4 | - | 18th | 5th | - |
| 1963-64 | 11-4 | - | - | 6th | - |
| 1964-65 | 9-9 | - | - | 5th | - |
| 1965-66 | 18-14 | - | - | 5th | - |
| 1966-67 | 19-1-1 | - | 5th | 1st | - |
| 1967-68 | 23-1 | - | 6th | 1st | - |
| 1968-69 | 19-1-1 | - | 6th | 1st | - |
| 1969-70 | 14-8 | - | - | 4th | - |
| 1970-71 | 11-12 | - | - | 4th | - |
| 1971-72 | 13-11 | - | 18th | 5th | - |
| 1972-73 | 20-6 | - | 22nd | 3rd | - |
| 1973-74 | 20-3 | - | T13th | 5th | - |
| 1974-75 | 25-2 | - | T8th | T1st | - |
| 1975-76 | 18-2 | - | 16th | 3rd | - |
| 1976-77 | 21-3 | - | - | 4th | - |
| 1977-78 | 22-4 | - | - | 5th | - |
| 1978-79 | 17-9 | - | - | T5th | - |
| 1979-80 | 15-9-1 | - | - | 6th | - |
| 1980-81 | 23-6 | - | - | 5th | - |
| 1981-82 | 20-7 | - | - | T3rd | - |
| 1982-83 | 14-10 | - | - | T8th | - |
| 1983-84 | 17-10 | - | - | T6th | - |
| 1984-85 | 16-11 | - | - | 5th | - |
| 1985-86 | 19-10 | - | - | T7th | - |
| 1986-87 | 16-8 | - | - | 4th | - |
| 1987-88 | 3-20 | - | - | T6th | - |
| 1988-89 | 14-11 | - | - | 9th | - |
| 1989-90 | 17-9 | - | - | 7th | - |
| 1990-91 | 19-8 | - | T5th | T3rd | - |
| 1991-92 | 15-11 | - | T9th | 5th | - |
| 1992-93 | 16-12 | - | T9th | 5th | - |
| 1993-94 | 19-7 | - | T9th | 1st | - |
| 1994-95 | 18-11 | - | T9th | 5th | - |
| 1995-96 | 16-9 | - | T17th | 5th | - |
| 1996-97 | 31-1 | - | T9th | 5th | - |
| 1997-98 | 27-0 | - | T25th | T6th | - |
| 1998-99 | 31-2 | - | T5th | T3rd | - |
| 1999–2000 | 25-3 | - | T3rd | 1st | - |
| 2000-01 | 9-17 | - | T10th | 3rd | - |
| 2001-02 | 18-7 | - | T9th | T3rd | - |
| 2002-03 | 25-5 | - | T5th | 1st | - |
| 2003-04 | 18-7 | - | T9th | 2nd | - |
| 2004-05 | 24-6 | - | T3rd | T1st | - |
| 2005-06 | 17-8 | - | T9th | T2nd | - |
| 2006-07 | 15-8 | - | T9th | T3rd | - |
| 2007-08 | 17-8 | 8-3 | - | - | 2nd |
| 2008-09 | 6-3 | 0-0 | - | - | - |
All-Americans
Florida had had 16 All-Americans with 37 honors.- David Blair - 1993 Doubles
- Chris Brandi - 2004 Doubles
- Dyllan Fitzgerald - 1994 Doubles
- Damon Henkel - 1994 Singles, 1995 Singles, 1996 Singles
- Jane Holmia - 2003 Singles
- Jesse LevineJesse LevineJesse Levine is a Canadian-born American professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles rank of No. 94 on November 3, 2008....
- 2007 Singles, 2007 Doubles - Mark MerkleinMark MerkleinMark Merklein is a former college and professional tennis player from the Bahamas.Merklein was born in Freeport, Bahamas. He received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for the Florida Gators men's tennis team in National...
- 1993 Singles, 1993 Doubles, 1994 Singles, 1994 Doubles - Hamid Mirzadeh - 2003 Singles, 2004 Singles, 2004 Doubles, 2005 Singles, 2005 Doubles
- Jeff MorrisonJeff MorrisonJeffrey Alan "Jeff" Morrison is an American professional tennis player.Morrison is perhaps best known for being the last American male left standing in the singles draw at Wimbledon in 2002....
- 1999 Singles, 1999 Doubles, 2000 Singles, 2000 Doubles - Armistead Neely - 1968 Doubles, 1969 Singles
- Greg Ouellette - 2005 Singles, 2005 Doubles, 2007 Singles, 2007 Doubles
- Justin O'Neal - 1997 Singles, 1999 Singles, 2000 Singles
- Nathan Overholser - 1999 Singles, 2000 Singles, 2000 Doubles
- Jamie Pressly - 1969 Singles
- James Shafer - 1961 Singles
- Bill Tym - 1963 Singles
See also
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- Florida Gators women's tennisFlorida Gators women's tennisThe Florida Gators women's tennis team represents the University of Florida in the sport of tennis. The Lady Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Southeastern Conference . They play their home matches in Linder Stadium on the university's...
- History of the University of FloridaHistory of the University of FloridaThe history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida, colloquially known as "Florida" or "UF," originated as several distinct institutions that were merged to create a single state-supported university by the...
- List of Florida Gators tennis players
- List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
- University Athletic AssociationUniversity of Florida Athletic AssociationThe University Athletic Association, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that is responsible for maintaining the Florida Gators intercollegiate sports program of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida...
External links
- GatorSports.com – Florida Gators sports news from The Gainesville Sun.
- GatorZone.com – Official webpage of the Florida Gators men's tennis team.