On the way home from last weekend’s road matches, Roland Thornqvist had a lot on his mind. While the Gators women’s tennis team had just won two straight road games, the coach was thinking about another sport: basketball.
While following Florida’s basketball team in the NCAA tournament, Thornqvist said he was able to draw parallels between Mike White’s team and his own. White spoke of his team as a group of guys who played for each other, bought into what the team was trying to do and were successful at it. Thornqvist’s teams over the years haven’t been much different.
“I thought of our team over the years, and our sport is different, but for us to have a really good team in women’s tennis, you have to have players with egos,” he said. “But they were also players who believed in the mission not just when the mission benefitted them, but what they could do to help the mission.”
Thornqvist is always focused on how the team can be the best by May, in time for its own NCAA championship run. He said the Gators’ “Florida-first” mentality is something that has and is continuing to help them get there.
Florida will continue its mission today when it faces SEC opponent Alabama. The Tide will come into the Ring Tennis Complex after losing seven of their last eight games. They sit last in the conference with a 1-7 SEC record.
Then, on Sunday, the Gators will face stiffer competition against Auburn. While the Tigers only sit five spots higher than Alabama in the conference, their record boasts wins over Southern California, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Mississippi State. Auburn also houses the No. 14 doubles team in Alizee Michaud and Taylor Russo.
While the Gators have already faced their fair share of tough conference competition, Thornqvist expects this weekend to be no different.
“Most of the time when we play, the team on the other side has nothing to lose,” he said. “They’re expected to lose to Florida, so they’re going to throw everything they have at us. …We have everything to lose.”
Contact Spencer Thompson at sthompson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @spencemthompson.
UF coach Roland Thornqvist looks on during Florida's 4-2 win against Oklahoma State on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
