Teams that have long breaks in between games usually come out rusty.
For the No. 3 Florida women’s tennis team, rust is the last thing the team needs, especially when No. 1 California and No. 14 Stanford loom in the distance.
The Gators will play both teams on Feb. 26 and Feb. 28, respectively.
But Florida coach Roland Thornqvist believes his team will be ready.
"There’s no real science behind (avoiding rust), you know?" Thornqvist said. "Each team every year is a little different. This team has worked really hard up until this point."
In five matches so far this season, the Gators have only dropped six sets.
In addition, the Gators defeated then-No. 4 Southern California, then-No. 20 Clemson and then-No. 29 Baylor.
The Gators have also gone up against the then-No. 4 duo of USC’s Giuliana Olmos and Gabby Smith, and Clemson’s No. 11 Joana Eidukonyte.
When it comes to rust, UF isn’t worried. Multiple times this season, the Gators have proven that they can compete with the top teams in the nation.
"We’ve had to change tactics and be able to analyze some things in the middle of the flow of the game. And we have made good adjustments. Plus we seem to be able to control our nerves at the end of sets, too," Thornqvist said.
"We’ve certainly had some challenges in singles and some sets where we’ve had to make adjustments and we’re going to need to be able to do that."
California and Stanford aren’t the only opponents on Thornqvist’s mind, though.
To the coach, every game is building toward May. Thornqvist wants to see improvement from his players every match so that by the time the NCAA Team Tournament comes around, the Gators will be ready to make a deep run.
"It’s such a long season, and we need to make sure we’re at our best in April and May," Thornqvist said.
"You can’t just train for this coming weekend, you got to think big picture."
Contact Jake Dreilinger at jdreilinger@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @DreilingerJake.
Roland Thornqvist looks on as his team competes in singles during its win against South Florida on Jan. 27, 2016, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
