BY TOMMY SCOTT

Gator captain wins Florida’s first singles title since 1999

Florida’s Sam Riffice won the 2021 NCAA Singles National Championship on Friday at the USTA National Campus.

No. 6-seeded Riffice defeated No. 2-seeded Daniel Rodrigues of South Carolina by a score of 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to earn the third singles title in program history. Previously, Mark Merklein (1994) and Jeff Morrison (1999) earned the singles trophy for the Gators.

The junior is the eighth player in the 21st century to earn a team and singles national championship in the same season, as UF defeated Baylor last Saturday for the team title.

Riffice completes his season with a 32-7 overall record in singles and also downed the No. 1 and No. 2-seeded players in consecutive days for the title.