Relaxed, confident and handling their business.
Those are just a few of the ways UF coach Roland Thornqvist described how his players competed through the Fall season, which ended this past weekend.
Junior Anna Danilina headlined Florida’s success this weekend, capturing both the singles title and the doubles title with senior Spencer Liang at the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic in Lakewood Ranch on Sunday.
Danilina won all of her matches from the quarterfinals on in just two sets, including her finals matchup against Virginia Tech’s Elena Cerezo-Codina, where Danilina won 6-3, 6-4.
Her dominance was a nod to her improvement from last season, when Danilina boasted an overall singles record of 30-7.
“She’s gotten more comfortable being uncomfortable,” Thornqvist said. “Last year she tended to freak when it was even, and now she stays composed and solves these little riddles. And subsequently, you see a greater performance and more success against better players.”
Meanwhile, Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock traveled to New York to compete in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships, an environment boasting the top players in the country.
Kuhlman reached the singles quarterfinals before losing 6-2, 6-2 to Duke’s Meible Chi, while Woolcock reached the singles consolation quarterfinals. The duo also competed together in doubles, reaching the quarterfinals of the draw before losing in three sets to Oklahoma State.
“It’s a little different for the Florida Gators to roll up there since we don’t play indoors,” Thornqvist said. “You have true bounces, usually a little bit of faster surfaces inside too, so the speed of play is faster so it benefits the player who hits the ball harder.”
Kuhlman did just that, getting power and velocity behind her hits that Thornqvist said has improved over the last two years. He also said that because of this power, the junior was able to help out in different ways in her doubles play with Woolcock.
“I think [Kuhlman] has new power from the ground and has been able to free up Belinda at the net, so their doubles play has improved because of that,” Thornqvist said.
However, Thornqvist said the injuries Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan sustained in the Fall that kept the two out of tournaments casts a “little bit of doubt” as to how the team will perform when the Spring season begins in January.
But with the success seen this past weekend and throughout the Fall, Thornqvist has one thought about the Spring season.
“I look upon the spring as a great opportunity for us to have yet another great year,” he said.
Contact Cassie Amundson at camundson@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @camundson_.
Anna Danilina watches the ball during the 2016 ITA Regional Championships at the Ring Tennis Complex.
