Calm, composed and poised: This is how coach Roland Thornqvist described his team Monday after its trying victory over No. 3 Pepperdine on Saturday.
“You’ve gotta be able to play at a high level under pressure. Our players have been in those situations many, many times and that’s sort of the good part of having a veteran team,” Thornqvist said. “In general, we talk a lot about performing at the end of sets, going deep into sets, being able to be lucid and think your way through it, and I think that’s what I saw at Pepperdine.”
The depth and experience of this veteran team are what Thornqvist believes are the best aspects of the Gators this season. With everyone in the lineup able to compete, players are able to play freely and without worry.
“I think our players feel like they can get a point at every position and that sort of frees you up,” he said. “There’s nobody in the lineup that feels like, ‘Hey, we can’t win if I can’t win,’ and that should add a lot of freedom to our performance and ability to play and not have that extra burden of feeling like you have to win.”
Florida will now shift its attention to the National Team Indoor Championships, taking place Friday through Monday at Yale and housing the top-16 teams in the country.
The Gators will prepare for this weekend’s competition by practicing indoors, something that’s different for the team, as it's accustomed to playing outdoors. Despite the unfamiliarity of indoor play, Thornqvist is confident that his players will be able to adjust their style of play in order to compete.
“Indoor tennis is obviously different than outdoor tennis,” he said. “It’s going to be faster-paced, probably shorter points in general. But we do have players on our team that can adapt to that. We have shotmakers on our team.”
The Gators will rely on shotmakers like Anna Danilina, who competed indoor during her time in Russia, to elevate the team’s level of play this weekend. Thornqvist described Danilina as “rock solid mentally” this season.
Florida will also rely on its strength: doubles. The Gators have yet to drop a doubles match all season and strive to keep that effort up this weekend.
“With obviously the defending NCAA champion at one, we have three teams that we can rely on,” Thornqvist said. “That adds a lot. That should be great for our players. They feel like we can get a point everywhere.”
The draw for National Indoors is expected to be released on Wednesday. However, no matter who the team plays, Thornqvist knows the competition will be tough. He plans to use the momentum from last Saturday’s win to give his team confidence going into the weekend.
“Being in these moments like playing at Pepperdine, the No. 3-ranked team in the country, on the road for the first time, it’s great for us emotionally,” he said. “Now going into the indoors, we’re going to be better-equipped. We’re going to feel more confident and perhaps less nervous in the beginning.”
Contact Spencer Thompson at sthompson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @spencemthompson.
Roland Thornqvist looks on as his team competes in singles during its win against South Florida on Jan. 27, 2016, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
