The first topic discussed when coach Roland Thornqvist met with the media on Monday was junior Belinda Woolcock and her doubles match at the Australian open.
But before Thornqvist could even usher in a sentence of praise for the Melbourne, Austrailia, native, a lightbulb above him shattered, momentarily startling the coach.
"I hope that’s not an omen," Thornqvist joked before returning to the topic at hand.
Thornqvist said that Woolcock is an impressive worker who is always looking to get better.
From the start of her freshman year to the beginning of the spring season in her junior year, a shift in mentality and confidence in Woolcock has allowed her to reach her full potential.
"It’s the way she views the game and with confidence and maturity, she settled in," Thornqvist said.
"It’s more from, what I think, confidence and the mental game than anything else that’s allowed her to be three in the country in singles."
Woolcock was not the only Gator to receive praise from Thornqvist.
Sophomore Anna Danilina is the only newcomer to the team and has already made a huge impact. In UF’s last tournament alongside senior Brianna Morgan, Danilina won the doubles title at the Dick Vitale Clay Court Classic.
At the Freeman Memorial Tennis Championship, Danilina was the only Gator to reach the semifinals.
Thornqvist said that she was the best player for the Gators at the tournament.
In his 15th year at Florida, Thornqvist has seen plenty of great individual athletes come through his program.
He said that the real challenge is helping them make the transition from individual to team play.
Only time will tell for Danilina, who will need to adjust from individual play to playing for a team for the first time.
But Thornqvist knows that Florida is anxious to get back out on the court for team play and to get another shot at Vanderbilt, the reigning NCAA and Southeastern Conference champions.
The Gators faced Vanderbilt three times last season, with the Commodores coming out on top each time.
Vanderbilt was responsible for three of four losses the Gators had last season.
But in Florida's second and third matchups against Vanderbilt, Thornqvist believed the Gators were the better team, but the Commodores did just enough to come out with a victory.
The coach also said each player has improved in both singles and doubles, and that those improvements could be the deciding factor in most of the games the Gators play this year.
"If we can win the doubles point, with this singles lineup, it’ll be awfully difficult for another team, in my opinion, to beat us," Thornqvist said.
"To have to come back and beat us four spots in singles, where not only are we going to be very good at the top and we’re going to have some of the best players in the country at the top, we are going to be perhaps relatively stronger at the bottom."
Contact Jake Dreilinger jdreilinger@alligator.org and Follow him on Twitter @DreilingerJake.
Coach Roland Thornqvist said his team will try to learn from its mistakes after Florida fell to Vanderbilt in Sunday's SEC Tournament championship game. “We can start from zero in our preparations," he said.
