Florida Gators
Central Florida
No. 7 Florida W-Tennis Earns Shutout vs. UCF in Season-Opener
Saturday, January 24, 2009 | Women's Tennis
The seventh-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team opened its 2008-09 season in impressive fashion, earning a 7-0 victory over UCF Saturday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
The victory marked the Gators' 24th consecutive season-opening win, while extended the team's regular-season home winning streak to 66.
UF's 2008-09 squad features three freshmen and three juniors, so half the team was making its collegiate dual match debut, but the opening-day jitters didn't appear to affect the Gators.
“We had a lot of youth and first dual matches being played out there today, but I was very proud of how everyone responded,” said head coach Roland Thornqvist, who earned his 249th career win and his 174th victory in his eighth year at UF. “I'm sure the nerves were flying a bit at the beginning. I was expecting a few more ups and downs because of our inexperience, but I thought we were pretty consistent today. We're trying to be more consistent and be a more physical team on the court this year and we were pretty successful in those areas today.”
Florida needed just 34 minutes to capture the initial point of its dual match season, collecting doubles victories on courts number 1 and 2, before the final squad earned a victory to complete the doubles sweep.
“I was especially proud of how well we playing in doubles,” Thornqivst said. “Our No. 1 and No. 2 teams were extraordinary today. Overall, was really pleased with our singles play.”
The experience pair of Megan Alexander (Dallas, Texas) and Marrit Boonstra (The Netherlands), ranked No. 18 in the country, blanked Elvira Serrot and Andrea Yacaman, 8-0, in 29 minutes on court No. 1.
Junior Anastasia Revzina (Russia) and freshman Jessica Alexander (Dallas, Texas) teamed for the first time and dominated Jenny Frisell and Alexis Rodriguez, 8-1, at the No. 2 spot to provide the clinching win.
The rookie duo of Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) and Barbara Pinterova (Slovakia) needed a bit more time to complete the doubles sweep, but ripped off the final three games to defeat Katie Orletsky and Kenza Belbacha, 8-5.
All six Gators then turned their attention to the singles court, where five produced straight-set wins to help Florida improve to 7-0 all-time against the Knights (1-1).
Boonstra earned the nod to play on the No. 1 singles court against UCF and did not disappoint, as she produced a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Serrot to clinch the dual match victory for Florida. Boonstra, who had not played higher than No. 4, enjoyed the experience of playing at the No. 1 spot.
“It was amazing,” Boonstra said of her debut on the showcase court. “I really like the court and my match today went pretty well. In general, my confidence is much higher than it was last year and it shows in my game.”
Boonstra opened with a break en route to winning the first seven games of the match. Serrot earned a break in the second game of the second set, but the Gator junior quickly regrouped and collected the final five games of the match.
Jessica Alexander, the younger sister of current junior Megan on the team, was the first Gator off the singles court, needing just 57 minutes to take down Christy Core at the No. 5 position. Jessica won the first five games of her collegiate singles debut, before Core got on the board by holding in the sixth game and earning a break in the next. Alexander, however, bounced right back and broke Core to win the opening set and won the first four games of the second. The two traded breaks before the Gator rookie served out for the 6-2, 6-1 win.
“It was a lot of fun,” Jessica Alexander said. “It was pretty cool playing next to my sister and being able to see the whole team. I played pretty well and I haven't had a lot of playing time lately. I just ran what I was comfortable with and what I knew.”
Megan Alexander played on the No. 3 singles court, which with UF's layout, sits next to court No. 5 where her sister competed. The elder Alexander, who is ranked No. 78 in the country, checked in with a 6-3, 6-1 decision over 70th-ranked Andrea Yacaman, winning the final four games to earn her 49th career singles victory.
“It was good to finally compete and beat up on someone else' besides ourselves for a change. Everything felt good,” Megan said. “Doubles felt really good, natural, almost like where we left off from last year.”
Mather provided Florida with its third team point of the dual match after she downed Alexis Rodriguez, 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 4 spot. The Gator freshman lost her serve to start the match, but settled down and broke right back before winning the next four games, including her first serve during the run at love, to take a 4-2 lead. The next two games were breaks, but Mather held to close out the initial set. The first three games of the second also featured service breaks, but Mather held the one-break lead until the seventh game, where she broke again before serving out for the victory.
“It was an amazing experience to have all my teammates playing next to me and hear, 'Go Gators' being yelled,” Mather shared. “It's one thing to think you know what the experience is going to be like, but until you actually feel it, it's something else.”
Pinterova posted her first collegiate singles victory, taking down Kenza Belbacha, 6-1, 7-5 on court No. 6. The Knight held in the sixth game of the first set to break up Pinterova's shot at a bagel, but the Gator newcomer served out to be the first Gator to close out their initial opening frame. The second set was much tighter, as Pinterova held a one-break lead entering the eighth game. That's where the trend of four straight breaks occurred, before Pinterova ended the pattern and held to take the victory.
Court No. 2 was the lone match that needed a 10-point super tiebreak to determine the victor, as Revzina emerged with the 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-1) decision over Jenny Frisell. The first set featured six service breaks, with Revzina able to log the last one in the 10th game to take the early lead. Frisell then jumped out in the second and held a 4-0 lead, before Revzina started to rally, eventually evening the set at 4-all. Frisell, however, broke Revzina's four-game run and won the next two games to force a deciding third, where she broke the Gator junior to start the breaker, before Revzina dominated the remaining the points to take the final decision and give the Gators a dual match sweep.
Florida returns to action on Tuesday, when the squad plays host to Stetson beginning at 3 p.m. This match was originally scheduled to be played last Thursday. Admission to all regular-season matches is free.
Women's College Tennis
UCF at No. 7 Florida
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Final Score: Florida 7, UCF 0
Doubles
No. 1 Megan Alexander/Marrit Boonstra (18), UF d. Elvira Serrot/Andrea Yacaman, UCF, 8-0
No. 2 Jessica Alexander/Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Jenny Frisell/Alexis Rodriguez, UCF, 8-1*
No. 3 Joanna Mather/Barbara Pinterova, UF d. Katie Orletsky/Kenza Belbacha, UCF, 8-5
Singles
No. 1 Marrit Boonstra (34), UF d. Elvira Serrot, UCF 6-0, 6-1*
No. 2 Anastasia Revzina (99), UF d. Jenny Frisell, UCF 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-1)
No. 3 Megan Alexander (78), UF d. Andrea Yacaman (70), UCF 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 Joanna Mather, UF d. Alexis Rodriguez, UCF 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 Jessica Alexander, UF d. Christy Core, UCF, 6-2, 6-1
No. 6 Barbara Pinterova, UF d. Kenza Belbacha, UCF 6-1, 7-5
*Clinching doubles point/dual match win
Order of Finish: Doubles-1, 2, 3; Singles-5, 4, 1, 3, 6, 2
-UF-
