Week 7: Men’s Tennis Athletes of the Week

Player of the Week: Sophomore Ben Shelton collected two big singles wins against both No. 6 South Carolina and No. 9 Kentucky en route to a 2-0 start in conference play for the Gators. Shelton made his debut at one singles on the year, putting up two solid victories. Against the Gamecocks, the Gainesville native tallied a straight-set victory over No. 19 Daniel Rodrigues, who was the runner-up in the 2021 NCAA Singles Championship, by scores of 6-3, 6-4. Two days later, the Gator faced the preseason No. 1 player and 2021 NCAA Singles semifinalist in Kentucky’s Liam Draxl. Shelton dropped the first set in a battle, 5-7. In an impressive comeback effort, Shelton would only allow Draxl to win five games over the next two sets to take the match at court one, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, helping the Gators to their fifth top-10 victory of the year. Shelton leads the team not only in singles wins with 19, but also with 11 ranked singles victories on the season.

Freshman of the Week: Freshman Nate Bonetto served a pivotal role in Florida’s two top-10 wins this weekend after compiling a perfect 4-0 overall record against No. 6 South Carolina and No. 9 Kentucky, helping the Gators to a 2-0 conference record to start league play. Against the Gamecocks, Bonetto and doubles partner Duarte Vale clinched the doubles point for Florida at court three in an exciting tiebreaker, 7-6 (11). At five singles, Bonetto put up a straight-set (6-2, 6-1) victory over SC’s Beau Pelletier, only allowing the Gamecock three games in the win as the Gators would eventually sweep the No. 6 team, 7-0. Two days later, Bonetto came up clutch for the Gators. Not only did he and Vale collect a decisive 6-1 win at three doubles, but the freshman from Bend, Ore., would clinch the match for Florida. Both the Gators and No. 9 Kentucky were tied at 3-all as Bonetto tried to pull off the big win. Down 2-5 in his first set against JJ Mercer, the freshman rallied back to win in a tiebreak, 7-6 (8). Again, the two players chipped away at one another, eventually tying the second set at 5, before Bonetto won the next two games to clinch the match for a 4-3 UF victory. Bonetto, who never lost a set in singles this week, currently ranks second on the team with 18 singles wins and is a perfect 5-0 and 2-0 in dual singles and dual doubles play, respectively.