To coach Bryan Shelton, tennis is like taking a test.
“You go out on the court and the guy, your opponent, throws some questions at you and you’ve got to come up with the answers,” Shelton said. “And you’ve got about an hour and a half to complete the test.”
But in the case of tennis, failing isn’t an option.
“They’ve got to be sharp,” Shelton said, “and they’ve got to be able to make the adjustments that they need to so that they can make the passing grade.”
And two tournaments into the preseason, several players have done just that.
In the Bedford Cup last weekend, junior Jordan Belga earned his second singles championship of the season.
“It’s so early in the season for Jordan to already have two titles under his belt,” Shelton said. “That’s pretty impressive.”
Meanwhile, freshman Johannes Ingildsen won a singles championship in the Southern Intercollegiate, his first collegiate tournament ever.
“I don’t know how many guys in their very first collegiate event have won a title, so I’m certainly impressed with him,” Shelton said. “And kind of like Jordan, he just found ways to win.”
But this week, serving has been a dominant focus in practice as the team gears up for the ITA All-American Championships.
Serving is the most important shot in tennis, Shelton said, and the team has been spending extra time in practice hitting targets with serves and creating pressure situations.
Another aspect of the game to hone in on, players and coaches said, is fitness.
“I just want to keep improving upon that because without that I’m going to struggle throughout my matches,” junior Chase Perez-Blanco said. “But if that’s going well I can last longer and play better tennis.”
Physicality will be demanded this weekend, as some of the team will be playing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this Saturday as part of prequalifying rounds for the ITA All-American Championships.
McClain Kessler, Maxx Lipman, Belga and Joshua Wardell will start off in the pre-qualifying singles draw this Saturday. On Monday, Perez-Blanco will play in the qualifying singles draw. Orkin and Lipman will also be a pair in the qualifying doubles draw. And starting next Thursday, Alfredo Perez and Elliot Orkin will begin competition in the singles main draw.
“Almost every SEC school will be represented and almost every top-50 school across the nation will be there,” Shelton said. “The very best players from across the country will be there from every conference.”
With this tournament being just the second one of the season for some of these players, there’s no doubt nerves can set in, just as they did last weekend.
“I was going to be a little rusty and a little nervous even though I’ve played a lot of tournaments throughout my career,” Perez-Blanco said.
But building on the success the team has already seen will help the team’s confidence, Shelton said.
“Confidence to me is like your best friend,” Shelton said. “I think it just takes one or two good wins to start gaining that confidence, and then you create the momentum that you can sustain and hopefully make a run through the tournament.”
The women’s tennis team, meanwhile, will be playing in the Riviera ITA All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, California, with prequalifying action kicking off Saturday.
Contact Cassie Amundson at camundson@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @camundson_.
Chase Perez-Blanco had an emotion-filled evening as he was one of three seniors honored at Florida's Senior Day match against Alabama. He won his singles set and helped set the tone for a sweep of the Crimson Tide on Friday.
