The Ring Tennis Complex will have an NCAA Championship feel to it on Sunday and Monday thanks to two visitors.
No. 9 Illinois and No. 22 Pepperdine will travel to Gainesville to battle the No. 14 UF men's tennis team on consecutive days.
While their current rankings might not reveal it, each of the Gators' opponents has played in the national championship match once in each of the past two seasons.
Illinois (5-3) lost to undefeated Georgia on the Bulldogs' home courts in the title match last year.
The year before that, Pepperdine (1-4) broke that same Georgia team's hearts, claiming the championship and giving the Bulldogs their first and only loss of the season.
To sum it all up, the youthful Gators (4-2) will have their hands full during this two-day span against two experienced teams.
"Playing them back-to-back is going to be a good chance for us to see what we can do against this level teams," UF coach Andy Jackson said. "We'll have to play better than we've played this year to be able to beat either team."
Recent history does not bode well for UF.
The Illini have defeated the Gators each of the last five seasons rather handily, including two shutout wins.
Last season, UF fell 6-1 in Champaign.
UF's last meeting with Pepperdine was a 4-0 loss in the Round of 16 during the Waves' title run two years ago.
"I don't really believe too much in moral victories, but I do believe that you can get better, win or lose," Jackson said. "With five of our seven guys freshmen, it's not going to be a walk in the park."
UF hasn't played a match since its Feb. 9 win against Florida State.
Jackson said he is concerned about the two-week layoff, which was a result of his team not qualifying for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championships last weekend.
"But we've also been able to have very, very good training," he said about the time off. "So it's sort of a trade off. I'm concerned that we haven't played matches, but I'm also pleased that we've been training well."
Jackson is aware that continuing to play top-tier opponents will only help his team improve, but most importantly for them, he said it will prepare them come tournament time.
"You have to play the best to be able to develop," Jackson said. "Especially in tennis, where you don't get penalized for losing. Football, you get penalized for losing. Tennis, you gotta make the NCAA Tournament, and after that, regardless of your record, it's better to have played a good schedule so that you can develop and improve."
The No. 5 UF women's tennis team will hit the road again on Sunday when it takes on No. 27 Texas in Austin.
The Gators (5-1) defeated the Longhorns in Gainesville last season, 5-2, and are coming off back-to-back wins against No. 5 North Carolina and No. 20 Florida State.
