Gators Embark on Split Opening-Weekend Events

Friday, September 15

Newport, RI

All Day

Florida Gators

Hall of Fame ITA Grass Court Invitational

Brooke Austin is one of three Gators participating at the Duke Bonk Invite.

Gators Embark on Split Opening-Weekend Events

Thursday, September 14, 2017 | Women's Tennis

All six members of the 2017-18 Gator squad will be in action this weekend.

By: Kathy Cafazzo

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – All six members of the 2017-18 Gator squad will compete in one of two season-opening tournaments this weekend, September 15-17.

Anna Danilina, Katie Kubicz and Josie Kuhlman will participate at the Hall of Fame/ITA Grass Court Invitational in Newport, R.I., while Brooke Austin, Victoria Emma and Peggy Porter will travel to Cary, N.C., for the Duke Bonk Invite.

Both events are individual singles and doubles tournaments.

About the Hall of Fame/ITA Grass Court Invitational

Athletes from North Carolina, Princeton and LSU will also compete on the historic grass courts
Draws, results and order of play will be posted here as soon as they become available
There will not be live scoring from the event
Draws and more!
Official website

Hall of Fame/ITA Grass Court Invitational Match-Ups
Friday, Sept. 15
Kim Clijsters Flight, Singles - QF

Anna Danilina, UF vs. Jessica Golovin, LSU
Josie Kuhlman, UF vs. Ryann Foster, LSU

Althea Gibson Flight, Singles - QF

Katie Kubicz, UF vs. Eden Richardson, LSU

Navratilova/Shriver Flight, Doubles - SF

Danilina/Kuhlman, UF vs. Foster/Golovin, LSU

Fernandez/Zvereva Flight, Doubles - SF

Lononova/Kubicz, North Texas/UF vs. Daavettila/Sanford, UNC

About the Duke Bonk Invite

Athletes from Duke, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, North Carolina, NC State, Furman, Charlotte, LSU, Elon, Illinois will also compete
Draws and results will be posted here throughout the event
There will not be live scoring from the event
With only three Gators competing, one Gator each day will pair with a player from another school in doubles action. There will not be true doubles draws at the event. The results from players from different schools comprising a doubles team do not count toward their official record.

Duke Bonk Invite Match-Ups
Friday, Sept. 15
Singles - QF

Brooke Austin, UF vs. Claudia Wiktorin, NC State
Peggy Porter, UF vs. Adriana Reami, NC State
Victoria Emma, UF vs. Daniela Pedraza Novak, Illinois

Doubles – Rotation 1

Austin/Porter, UF vs. Kawai/ Pedraza Novak, Illinois – 9 a.m.
Emma/Gizdova, Florida/GT vs. Switkes/Rabinowitz, Illinois – 9 a.m.

Doubles – Rotation 2

Austin/Porter, UF vs. Chi/Chen, Duke – 10 a.m.
Emma/Gizdova, Florida/GT vs. Lazic/Smaller – 10 a.m.

Saturday, Sept. 16
Doubles – Rotation 3

Austin/Porter, UF vs. Larner/Lipp – 9 a.m.
Emma/Gizdova, Florida/GT vs. Kane/Vazquez, UNC – 9 a.m.

Quoting UF Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On playing in two different tournaments this weekend:
"It's really good because (Associate Head Coach) Dave (Balogh) gets a good look at his three competing in Newport and I get a good look at the three playing in North Carolina. There's one freshman at each tournament so we both get to really watch them. We've done this before and it's worked out really well. We have such a small team this fall that we get to spend a lot of quality time with our athletes."

On what he's most looking forward to seeing this weekend:
"Just to compete again and collect data for what we can work on in practice and create a plan for the next couple weeks. Playing is so much more fun than practice so it's great for us to get out of here and play against other players. Then we come home and we've got a week or so before the Riviera All-American."

Gator Pronunciations for this release: