Florida Gators News: Ben Shelton wins Australian Open match, more

Former Florida Gators tennis star Ben Shelton is down under trying to make noise at the Australian Open. Shelton helped lead Florida to the 2021 men’s tennis national title and in 2022 he won the NCAA singles title after going 37-5.

Shelton opted to turn pro afterwards and appeared in his first Grand Slam tournament last August when he fell in five sets in his opening round match at the US Open.

On Tuesday Shelton won his first Grand Slam match when he defeated Zhizhen Zhang of China in five sets. He followed that up with a three-set win over Chile’s Nicolas Jarry.

Shelton will now face Alexei Popyrin of Australia at 3 AM on Saturday morning.

Florida Gators: Former transfer target chooses Ole Miss

Spencer Sanders was an early favorite to wind up with the Florida Gators, but rumors pulled him towards Auburn. Yesterday Sanders opted to head over to Ole Miss and join Lane Kiffin and crew.

The move is head scratching when one considers that Walker Howard of LSU announced the day before that he would be heading to Ole Miss, and the Rebels still have Jaxson Dart on the roster as well.

That QB room isn’t big enough for the three of them.

Already former three-star QB Kinkead Dent has announced he would be transferring out of Ole Miss.

Gymnastics back in action

After knocking off the 5th ranked Auburn Tigers last week in front of over 9,600 fans, The Florida Gators gymnastics team is on the road this week to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide.

‘Bama is ranked 11th in the country and took Florida to the limit last season. Florida trailed Alabama heading into the last rotation before pulling out the victory.

The Gators look to continue their momentum after earning 10s from Leanne Wong and Trinity Thomas last week.

The meet starts at 7:30 and will be aired on ESPNU.