The Gators are gearing up to make their longest trip of the season.
The UF women’s tennis team will journey almost 2,500 miles to Pacific Palisades, Calif., for the eight-day ITA All-American 2013 Riviera Classic.
“That’s when we really find out what we have, right?” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “Because the best players in the country will be there.”
“And it’s at the Riviera Country Club, what more can you ask? So if you can’t perform there, you know you’re having issues.”
The Riviera Classic pre-qualifying rounds begin Saturday and end with finals matches on Oct. 6.
Senior Sofie Oyen will get five days of rest. Because she has already secured a spot in the main draw, she will not hit the court until Thursday.
Belinda Woolcock, the only freshman competing for UF at Riviera, will begin play on Day 1 in the pre-qualifying rounds.
Seniors Alexandra Cercone and Olivia Janowicz, along with sophomore Brianna Morgan, will all start their tournaments in the qualifying rounds on Tuesday.
In doubles, Oyen and Woolcock, who captured the Duke Fab Four double tournament championship during their first competition together, will start off in the qualifying round, too.
Associate head coach Dave Balogh, who has been at UF for 14 years, has led the team’s Rivera Tennis Club outing for the past 13 years.
During that time, Balogh has coached seven All-American championship singles and doubles titles — the most recent being Lauren Embree’s singles championship title last year.
“As long as you go into it knowing this is going to be tough you have a better chance of handling it the right way,” Balogh said.
He has stressed mental and physical toughness going into the 10-day outing. Balogh expects battles on the court since the Gators will be up against the top players in the nation.
“You kind of see where you’re at with the big kids,” Balogh said. “We play some smaller tournaments here and there to get ready, but this is it.”
Follow Erica A. Hernandez on Twitter @EricaAlyssa.
Florida coach Roland Thornqvist (right) congratulates junior Sofie Oyen (left) and former Gator Allie Will (back) during a match against Duke on March 14, 2012.
