Florida Gators men's tennis

Florida Gators men's tennis
University	University of Florida
Conference	SEC
Location	Gainesville, FL
Head Coach	Bryan Shelton (1st year)
Stadium	Linder Stadium
Nickname	Florida Gators
Colors	Orange and Blue
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Conference Tournament Champions
1994, 2000, 2005, 2011
Conference Regular Season Champions
1961, 1968, 1969, 1975, 1994, 2000, 2003, 2005

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, and will be led by new head coach Bryan Shelton in 2012–13. In the eighty-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 [edit]

The Florida Gators men's tennis team was started by head coach Dennis K. "Dutch" Stanley 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.

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 advanced to the NCAA tournament semifinals in 2000 and 2005. 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.

Year-by-year results [edit]

The Florida Gators overall record is 1,079-440 through the 2007-2008 season.^[1]

All-Americans [edit]

Sixteen members of the Florida Gators men's tennis team have earned thirty-seven All-American honors.^[2]

• David Blair – Doubles (1993)
• Chris Brandi – Doubles (2004)
• Dyllan Fitzgerald – Doubles (1994)
• Damon Henkel – Singles (1994, 1995, 1996)
• Jane Holmia – Singles (2003)
• Jesse Levine – Singles (2007), Doubles (2007)
• Mark Merklein – Singles (1993, 1994) Doubles (1993, 1994)
• Hamid Mirzadeh – Singles (2003, 2004, 2005) Doubles (2004, 2005)
• Jeff Morrison – Singles (1999, 2000), Doubles (1999, 2000)
• Armistead Neely – Doubles (1968), Singles (1969)
• Greg Ouellette – Singles (2005, 2007), Doubles (2005, 2007)
• Justin O'Neal – Singles (1997, 1999, 2000)
• Nathan Overholser – Singles (1999, 2000), Doubles (2000)
• Jamie Pressly – Singles (1969)
• James Shafer – Singles (1961)
• Bill Tym – Singles (1963)

See also [edit]

	Florida portal
	Tennis portal

• Florida Gators
• Florida Gators women's tennis
• History of the University of Florida
• List of Florida Gators tennis players
• List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
• University Athletic Association

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• GatorSports.com – Florida Gators sports news from The Gainesville Sun.
• GatorZone.com – Official webpage of the Florida Gators men's tennis team.