By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider 
            ORLANDO, Fla. – Building on the momentum of winning a first-set tiebreaker at No. 3 singles, top-seeded and second-ranked Florida closed out four-straight singles in rapid-fire fashion and defeated top-ranked and No. 2 seed Baylor, 4-1, in an intense national champion match at the USTA National Campus. 
            The Bears (34-5) seemed poised to win the program's second national title, taking the doubles point to get the early lead and then winning three of the six first sets in singles. Until Saturday, Baylor was 28-1 when winning the doubles point, the only previous loss coming against TCU on Jan. 31. 
            But, Florida's stacked singles lineup proved to be too much. The Gators, who their first national championship, boasts a pair of top-10 players and three others in the ITA's Top 100. 
            "For a good number of those 7-5, 7-6 sets to fall their way really swung the momentum," Baylor head coach Michael Woodson said. "it felt like the walls were kind closing in a little bit on some of our guys. Credit to those Florida guys. They played some of their best tennis under pressure. That's really all it was, just a point here and there, and they executed really well."
            Freshman Ben Shelton, the son of Florida head coach Bryan Shelton, rallied from a first-set loss to clinch the match with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over grad transfer Charlie Broom at No. 5 singles. Staving off three break points at 5-2, Shelton closed it out by winning seven-straight points and then tossed his racket in the air. 
            "Ben's a good player, and he applied a lot of pressure throughout the match," Woodson said of the younger Shelton. "I felt like the momentum being against us cost us at the end, and the fans kind of capitalized on that opportunity. I think it felt a little bit more dramatic than it was, but credit to him, he's a good player."
            Even with Baylor's No. 2 team of Nick Stachowiak andd Matias getting shut out, 6-0, the Bears got the match started the right way with wins at Nos. 1 and 3. After Broom and Finn Bass cruised to a 6-1 win at No. 3, the ninth-ranked duo of Sven Lah and Constantin Frantzen clinched the opening point with a lightning-quick 6-2 win over Johannes Ingildsen and Duarte Valle. 
            That was a huge first step in Baylor potentially winning its second NCAA national title and first since 2004. But, at the end of the day, it was the Bears' last point of a long night. 
            In a pivotal swing for the Gators, sixth-ranked Sam Riffice broke Soto's serve and pulled out a 7-5 first set at No. 2, then 18^th-ranked Andy Andrade overcame an early deficit to win the first-set tiebreaker, 8-6, at No. 3. 
            "Matias and Sven had chances. I felt like we should have won five first sets," Woodson said. "And when we didn't, by the time Sven lost that first set, we were down breaks on Nick (Stachowiak) and Charlie (Broom's) courts. It did feel like the momentum was swinging, even though it probably wasn't as bad as it felt like."
            In a span of just a few minutes, Andrade got Florida (26-2) on the board with a 7-6 (6), 6-0 win over Lah; Riffice finished off a 7-5, 6-3 win over Soto; and Josh Goodger got another late break and handed Spencer Furman a rate loss at No. 6, 6-3, 7-5. 
            With Boitan leading Vale 7-5, 4-3 at No. 1 and on the verge of going up a break, and Stachowiak all-squared with Blaise Bicknell at No. 5, Shelton didn't leave anything to chance and got it done in three sets. 
            "I'm extremely proud of everything they've accomplished," said Woodson, whose team set the program single-season record with 34 dual-match victories. "I can't think of a group of guys that have epitomized what it is to be a team more than this group. Honestly, that's what carried them this far in the season. All of the success that they've had is a credit to them putting team first and putting the other guys ahead of themselves day-in and day-out. They've handled themselves with extreme class and left it all out there."
            Soto and Boitan will play in the singles and Frantzen and Lah are a 5-8 seed for doubles, already earning All-America honors. The singles action begins Sunday, with the doubles starting on Monday. 
 


THE RUNDOWN
ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 1-ranked and second-seeded Baylor men's tennis fell to No. 2-ranked and top-seeded Florida 4-1 on Saturday at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., in the NCAA National Championship.
 
After winning the doubles point, BU (34-5) was swept by the Gators (26-2) in singles.
 
The Bears brought the energy to start the match with a thrilling doubles point. UF's Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton snatched a 6-0 victory on court two over No. 75 Matias Soto/Nick Stachowiak, but Baylor responded with a 6-1 win on court three by Finn Bass/Charlie Broom against Brian Berdusco/Will Grant.
 
Then, on court one, No. 9 Constantin Frantzen/Sven Lah finished off a 6-2 match over Johannes Ingildsen/Duarte Vale to clinch the opening tally.

Moving into singles, the two sides split the first sets three apiece. However, the Gators made their move and finished off three matches in straight sets within minutes of one another.

No. 18 Andy Andrade defeated Lah on court three 7-6(6), 6-0, No. 6 Riffice held off No. 11 Soto 7-5, 6-3, and No. 79 Josh Goodger remained undefeated with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Spencer Furman.
 
With No. 21 Adrian Boitan leading No. 4 Vale on court one and Stachowiak even with No. 51 Blaise Bicknell on court four, it was Shelton who clinched for the Gators on court five over Broom in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback.

HIGHLIGHTS
• BU is now 1-2 all-time in the NCAA National Championship.
• Baylor's 34 wins are the most in a single-season in program history.
• The Bears are now 64-22 all-time in NCAA Championship play and 3-2 in postseason matches held in Orlando, Fla., at the USTA National Campus.
• The Bears are now 17-7 all-time in 4-1 postseason matches.
• BU is now 12-3 all-time as the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Championship.
• BU is now 18-5 against ranked opponents this season.
• Baylor finished the season having won 18 of its last 20 dual matches.
• The Bears went 30-9 in the doubles point this season and was 28-2 in matches when winning the opening tally.
• Baylor finished with a combined 158-33 (.827) mark in singles action this spring and a collective 73-26 (.737) record in doubles.

STAT OF THE MATCH
34 – Baylor finished the 2021 season with a school-record 34 wins.
 
TOP QUOTES
Head coach Michael Woodson
On the 2021 season…
"I'm so proud of everything they've accomplished. It's not as much about the tennis, obviously the tennis is fantastic – the stats, the records, the titles all speak for themselves. Making it to this point in the season really does speak for itself. It's the way that these young men carry themselves. We were able to play 39 matches this year, which is truly incredible. A lot of credit needs to go to our athletic department, our administration, our health and safety staff to provide our guys opportunities to train and compete. And the players, they've sacrificed so much this year. We didn't have any stoppages, we barely had any adjustments at all throughout the season. That's a credit to the sacrifices these young men made through what was a very difficult time. They banded together extremely well and the result was lots and lots of success. It hurts, it hurts more that we don't get to do it again than it hurts that we lost tonight."

Fifth-year senior Constantin Frantzen
On his career at Baylor…
"Obviously, we had an unbelievable season, the best season I've had in my five years here at Baylor. We've won a lot this year and it's unfortunate that we couldn't get the job done today. Congrats to the Gators, they out-competed us today. It means the world to me that we even had the chance to play the final today. A huge thank you to everybody who was a part of my last five years here at Baylor. I don't know how to thank them for the experience they gave me."

For the latest news on the Baylor men's tennis team all season long, follow their official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorMTennis.