Joanna Mather didn’t walk away from the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships this weekend with the collegiate grand slam title she was so close to capturing.
Instead, the UF tennis senior fell to Southern Methodist’s Marta Lesniak in a 7-5, 6-1 defeat in the tournament’s finals in Flushing, N.Y.
But even with a fall season-ending loss, Mather’s play during the weekend was nothing for the Gators to be disappointed with.
“She did an amazing job, frankly,” UF coach Roland Thornqvist said.
“Obviously she played at a very high level, but I think mentally that was the best I’ve seen Jo. She was very calm. She was resilient. She was confident.”
Mather worked her way through a competitive round of 32 to face off against 10th-ranked Lesniak, who previously downed Florida’s Lauren Embree in the tournament’s round of 16.
In Sunday’s finals, Mather jumped out with a 5-2 first-set lead, but Lesniak soon pulled away by wearing Mather thin with hard shots deep into the corners to win in straight sets.
Despite the loss, Thornqvist sees plenty of positives for Mather heading into the spring season, which picks up again in January.
“She did a really good job playing it point-by-point,” Thornqvist said. “Whether we played a good one or we played a bad one, she had great composure and bounced back and played the next point like it was the first one of the match.”
