"Ultra, ultra competitive" Embree Glad To Be Back On The Court
Thursday, January 27, 2011 | Women's Tennis, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alex Cercone is in her first year on the UF women's tennis team, but the freshman from Seminole easily noticed the warning signs.
The body language. The antsy moments on the practice court. That scrunched-up look on teammate Lauren Embree's face.
Cercone has spent enough time around Embree to know when something is on Embree's mind. The two traveled together extensively in 2009 on the junior circuit, including a three-week stint as roommates at the Junior Australian Open and another trip to the Junior French Open.
In the days and weeks leading up to the Gators' spring opener Wednesday night against UCF, Cercone saw a volcano finally erupt.
“You could sense she just wants to play,'' Cercone said. “She was getting a little bit frustrated.''
A sophomore, Embree completed her freshman season by winning 17 consecutive matches before falling to California's Mari Andersson in the first round of the NCAA Singles Championships. Embree finished 32-6 overall, becoming the first freshman in Southeastern Conference history to be named SEC Player of the Year.
She did it all with a nagging pain in her left wrist that caused her formidable backhand to lose some of its sting. She had surgery in June to repair a ruptured tendon. With the pain still an issue, Embree underwent a second surgery in October.
The surgeries were easy compared to the aftermath: Embree had to miss the entire fall season, the first time since she started playing competitively at 8 that the 20-year-old Embree had to take an extended break from the game.
“It's been tough. I came out every day and still practiced. I just could not hit a backhand,'' Embree said. “When I finally could, everything I tried, it hurt. That was definitely frustrating, especially with two surgeries.''
Embree's wait to unleash that dangerous backhand at an opponent finally ended Wednesday night at Linder Stadium. The victim was UCF's Alexis Rodriguez.
In her first singles match since losing to Andersson eight months ago, Embree easily won the first set 6-2, and then fought off a rally by Rodriguez in the second set to win 7-5 as her teammates and coaches watched nearby.
The Embree-Rodriguez match was the last to finish, taking an hour and 13 minutes to complete in Florida's 7-0 sweep of the Knights.
After the match was over, it was difficult for a casual observer to notice how important the match was to Embree. She shook the hands of Rodriguez and the judge, packed her racquet into her bag, grabbed a blue bucket of tennis balls, and walked off the court.
Gators head coach Roland Thornqvist stood nearby, tapping Embree on the shoulder as she headed to the locker room.
She may have not shown it, but Thornqvist knew how important Wednesday's match was for Embree.
“It's just a matter of being in the arena,'' he said. “The fact she is playing now is key. Clearly she is not playing as well as she would like and she's not playing right now as well as she will eventually, but you've got to sort of walk before you run.''
In amateur tennis circles, Embree is definitely more of a thoroughbred than a walking pony. She was rated the nation's No. 2 recruit by tennisrecruiting.net coming out of Lely High in Naples. She won a state championship in high school and has already played in the U.S. Open and French Open.
Once she gets fully healthy, Embree is expected to reclaim her place as UF's No. 1 singles player. She played at No. 2 singles for the first time in her career on Wednesday.
Embree was more relieved than anything else following her first match.
“The wrist actually feels OK,'' she said. “It's been feeling about the same, not any better and not any worse. I'm OK with that.
“Getting back on the court and finally competing again is just exciting. Playing a match is just so much different than going out there practicing and hitting balls every day – the competitiveness, the energy level, the environment. It felt good to be back.''
At the top of his check list, Thornqvist wanted to see how Embree responded mentally. He calls Embree and “ultra, ultra competitive'' player. Cercone backs up the claim.
“She is out of her mind sometimes,'' Cercone said. “She comes out in practices, she goes to the gym, and she just kills herself.
“And she loves it.''
After Embree breezed through Wednesday's first set, Rodriguez challenged her in the second, pulling even at 5-5. Embree's competitive fire kicked in as she took the final two games to claim the first victory of her sophomore season.
What was on her mind at the end? Did she like the fact she was challenged in her return to the court? Not really.
“I was just happy to be done,'' she said. “I know [my teammates] are hungry, I know they want to eat and just don't want to be out there. I wanted to finish quickly for them.
“I always want to just win and get out of there. I don't want to make anything too difficult. I was struggling a little bit in the second set. I'm just glad I didn't split and came out of there with a win.''
That sounds like the competitor Thornqvist and the rest of the Gators know. Thornqvist saw the same competitor, but not the same player. At least not yet.
He knows that will take time. Embree's pain in her left wrist is manageable, and her backhand remains her best shot despite lacking its usual sharpness.
While there is rust to shake off and confidence to be regained, Thornqvist isn't concerned about the same Embree eventually showing up.
“She got out of a touch second set. I was glad to see the way she handled it,'' he said. “I'm real proud of her. Lauren has put in an awful lot of work to get back from this injury.
“She is going to be a better player come May than she was last May. I can assure you that. We kept telling her she is a better strokes player now than before her injury. She spent five months hitting nothing for forehands.''
Cercone can relate to Embree's quest to regain her form. She had a similar injury in high school that caused her to shy away from the backhand. She wore a cast on her left wrist to protect it, avoiding surgery.
Still, Cercone said it took months for her backhand to come back to where it was. She didn't see as much rust in Embree's go-to shot on Tuesday.
“Lauren's backhand was definitely a weapon,'' she said. “She really can do everything. And she is very, very smart. She is a fighter. She will fight to the end.''
That was Embree's mentality in her first match back. She's played on much bigger stages, but on a cool and crisp January night with cars passing by in the distance and small patches of fans in the stands, Embree returned to her favorite place.
She was back on the court with a racquet in her hand and her backhand at her disposal.
“I was just really itching to play,'' she said. “To come back and finally be able to play, I'm not complaining even if [my wrist] hurts a little bit because it's just so nice to be able to hit backhands again.''
