In the coming weeks, Florida will go up against No. 12 Georgia, No. 8 Alabama and No. 11 Vanderbilt.
But before the Gators prepare to tackle the Southeastern Conference’s best, they will take on the conference’s worst.
No. 49 Tennessee (4-7, 0-3 SEC) plays host to No. 3 Florida (11-2, 3-0 SEC) this afternoon at 4 p.m.
And the Gators aren’t too worried.
“This weekend is fun,” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “It won’t be hard to get ready for this weekend.”
With its 10 remaining matches all coming against conference rivals, Florida has sufficient motivation to try to finish the season on a hot streak before beginning the SEC Tournament.
But today, motivation might not be all that necessary.
The last time Tennessee won a point against Florida was April 25, 2010, when the former lost 4-1. Since then, UF has steamrolled UT by a combined score of 23-0.
In addition, Tennessee is 0-4 against teams ranked inside the top 25 this season and is trying to avoid its fifth loss in six games when Florida visits today.
As if that wasn’t enough, Florida has compiled an 88-2 all-time record against schools from Tennessee.
Still, it is a road match. The Gators are all too familiar with falling short against an underdog on the road like they did at the National Indoors quarterfinals on Feb. 8 against then-No. 16 Northwestern.
Both of Florida’s two losses came in away matches, albeit against much more formidable opponents — No. 4 Stanford and No. 9 Northwestern.
Tennessee doesn’t look to be a tough matchup, but playing in a hostile road environment against a team desperate for a win does tend to raise the stakes.
“Playing at both [Tennessee and Georgia], the crowds are going to be large and they don’t like the Gators very much,” Thornqvist said.
“We’re going to have to play good tennis under pressure this weekend.”
Despite the adversity, Thornqvist said his players are seasoned enough to know what to expect.
“We’ve seen the stages and the big crowds. I don’t think that’s really going to be a factor here,” the thirteenth-year coach said.
If they win out, Florida will have ended its regular season on at least a 10-match winning streak for the fifth consecutive year. The first of 10 begins today at Tennessee.
And the Gators aren’t worried.
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Senior Sofie Oyen and freshman Kourtney Keegan compete during UF’s 4-0 win over Harvard on Jan. 26 at the Ring Tennis Complex. Florida faces Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., today at 4 p.m.
