Looking for the Gators’ weak spot can be quite a challenge.
No. 2 Florida (17-1, 10-0 Southeastern Conference) has won 12 straight matches dating back to late February, shut out seven of its last eight opponents and has only lost five points to conference foes.
Six players are ranked nationally in singles, including three in the top 25.
Two doubles teams are also in the top 20, including the nation’s top-ranked team.
However, if there had to be one question mark for the defending national champions with the postseason rapidly approaching, it’s the Gators’ No. 3 doubles team.
With a combined record of 33-3 for the top two doubles teams, Florida has not frequently had to worry about how the third team performs.
The postseason, however, could be different.
If one of the top two doubles teams were to lose, the Gators would need their No. 3 team to win to secure the doubles point.
Coach Roland Thornqvist insists there is no concern. In fact, he is confident in whichever two players form the No. 3 doubles team.
“We play a little differently at three, but we’re effective,” he said. “We have three players rotating at that spot. It’s nice for us to have something that we can really focus on at this point in the season.”
While the wins the teams are racking up may not be dominant, he said that winning is all that matters.
“We’re winning (at No. 3). Some of them are 8-6, 8-5, maybe 9-7, but we’re winning,” he said. “I think we are getting better. Sometimes we get caught up looking at one being done in 40 minutes, two being done in 42 minutes and three’s winning in 55 minutes, and we’re not happy with that.”
Between Alex Cercone, Olivia Janowicz and Caroline Hitimana, the Gators have three players who can be paired together to play on court No. 3.
The pairings of Cercone and Janowicz and Hitimana and Janowicz have gone 7-2 and 4-0, respectively. Cercone and Hitimana are 2-1 together.
While those records indicate plenty of success, Thornqvist also sees room for growth, even at this point in the season.
Having all three doubles teams firing on all cylinders would be a huge plus for the Gators heading into the postseason.
“Looking at film, we do need to get better at some court positioning,” he said.
“We’re not taking advantage of some chances to poach. We’re not serving at the right spot sometimes. There are some details that I really think we can clean up easily. “
The Gators will have a chance to work on that last doubles spot on Saturday, when they close out their regular season at No. 27 South Carolina.
The No. 10 men’s team (13-8, 6-4 SEC) will play the Gamecocks at home at 1 p.m. at Linder Stadium.
