Florida women's tennis finished the 2025 spring season with a 9-14 record, going 4-11 in conference play, marking UF’s lowest winning percentage since 1981 and the first time they've failed to qualify for the NCAA National Championships since 1986.
On Oct. 29, 2024, Per Nilsson was named head coach of the Florida women’s tennis team, ending the 17-year tenure of former head coach Roland Thornqvist. The unexpected coaching change between the fall and spring season proved difficult for the Gators, creating a spring season filled with twists and turns that, ultimately, fell below the standards of the program’s history.
Nilsson’s first season was also plagued by injuries and a lack of options in the roster. However, the young Florida roster has potential that could help the program return to glory in the near future.
The Bad
As mentioned earlier, Nilsson’s first season as head coach saw the program struggle. One primary reason for these struggles is a combination of injuries and a thin roster.
Coming into the spring, the Gators had a registered squad of eight athletes, which is comparable to some of their opponents, but still small compared to fellow SEC schools such as Texas, who has 12 athletes.
As the season began, the team got smaller.
After competing in the ITA Kickoff Weekend matches against Florida International and Louisiana State, senior Emily De Oliveira left the team to pursue her career in professional tennis.
Rising junior sophomore Qavia Lopez was fresh off a freshman season that saw her make the SEC All-Freshman team and become the first in program history to win SEC freshman of the week three times. The Delray Beach native did not make an appearance on the court for the Gators this spring for an undisclosed reason, raising questions for fans throughout the season.
With two crucial players gone, Nilsson’s team was stripped to six athletes, the minimum needed to compete in a dual match without having to forfeit any matches.
Then, injuries proved costly for Florida’s small roster.
The Gators were swept twice 4-0 in competitions where injuries forced Nilsson to forfeit matches in singles and doubles. The first occurrence was at No. 2 Georgia when rising senior Rachel Gailis was fighting wrist and back pain. Then, in UF’s match at No. 10 Oklahoma, graduate Alicia Dudeney was a last-minute scratch.
Rising sophomore Nikola Duabnerova was most impacted by injury this past season, as she was sidelined for a month, forcing her to a boot and mobilized scooter. She made her return from injury in the SEC Tournament to help Florida defeat Alabama in the first round, but her long absence from the team was costly, especially since it took place in the heart of conference play.
Because of Daubnerova’s absence, Nilsson looked toward walk-on and rising sophomore Reagan Parker to fill in the sixth spot on the active roster for the remainder of the regular season. However, Parker showed growing pains and how difficult it was to walk on to a team in the middle of the season.
The IMG product went 0-9 in singles against SEC opponents on court six, with all her losses coming by way of straight sets. In doubles, Parker finished the season 0-4 with two loses a piece alongside Gailis and rising sophomore Noémie Oliveras.
As mentioned earlier, Gailis missed the dual match at No. 2 Georgia, but that injury had a noticeable impact beyond the contest in Athens. For much of the following matches, the pain forced Gailis to serve underhand, preventing her from generating more power and making it easier for opponents to get break points.
Rising sophomore Talia Neilson-Gatenby also faced an injury in her singles match against Vanderbilt, that forced her to retire from the match and helped the Commodores to a 5-2 victory over the Gators.
Throughout the season, Neilson-Gatenby fell short of preseason projections, where she was ranked No. 8 in the nation’s top-10 for newcomers and No. 122 in the ITA’s singles ranking. Playing most of her singles action on court three, Neilson-Gatenby finished the season 5-15 and outside the ITA rankings. From Feb. 23 to March 23, Neilson-Gatenby rode an eight match losing skid in singles. In doubles, she finished 6-11, mainly paired with Gailis or Oliveras on courts two and three.
Overall, underwhelming performances and injuries plagued the Gators throughout the season, resulting in a rough first year for Nilsson at the helm.
The Good
Im a season filled with changes and uncertainty, one of the main highlights was the singles play from Dudeney and Gailis, who both received All-SEC singles recognition for this season.
Riding a final four appearance in the NCAA Doubles championships with Dudeney in the fall, Gailis continued to be a leader for the Florida team and thrived in the role. Holding down the No. 1 spot in singles, Gailis finished the season as a member of the All-SEC second team for singles.
The rising senior had a six-match winning streak during the season and even upset then No. 2 singles player rising senior DJ Bennett in Florida's 5-2 road loss to No. 4 Auburn. Gailis finished the season at the No.18 spot in the ITA’s singles rankings.
While Gailis’ success was almost expected, the real surprise of the season came from Dudeney.
The graduate came into her senior season ranked 103 in the ITA preseason rankings, but she soon caught fire to finish the season at the No. 48 spot. Dudeney finished the season 15-2 in and on an 11-match winning streak in singles. This dominance in singles earned the rising senior a placer in the All-SEC First Team for singles.
Dudeney also impressed in doubles, taking her experience from the Final Four run with Gailis, Dudeney took care of business on court one with Spee, where the two finished the season 11-5 as a pair and ranked No. 19. Dudeney also picked up a doubles win in her sole match without Spee, helping her and Gailis finish the season at No.15 in doubles.
After Florida’s 6-1 victory over Arkansas, Nilsson praised the work of Dudeney and Gailis for their hard work at practice that set an example for the younger players.
“They've probably been the most consistent in practice and they get the results out on court,” Nilsson said.
The Future
Despite the season not going as planned, there is potential for Florida women’s tennis to get back on track.
Gailis’ return to the team next season will be important as she will continue to be a leader as the the only senior on the team. Having the experience of making a deep national championship run and defeating highly-ranked opponents will allow Gailis to be a mentor for her younger teammates but also continue to perform at a high level and be a threat in any opponent on court one.
For Lopez, if she makes a return to the squad next season, she potentially could be a mentor to rising sophomores and incoming freshmen. Furthermore, Lopez can serve as a reliable piece to Nilsson’s lineup, especially due to her consistency during her 2024 freshman campaign.
Florida’s future also looks bright thanks to the crucial playing time that its four rising sophomores were exposed to.
Most teams within the conference hold freshmen to play a handful of games rather than the full season so they can learn from a distance before becoming consistent starters. However, due to Florida’s small roster, its newcomers got an early start and were consistently in Nilsson’s lineup. Many of Florida’s youngsters showed their potential, such as when Daubnerova won her first conference singles match on court four to secure Florida’s 4-3 upset over No. 9 Texas.
Even though their success was limited, there is a chance that the early exposure can help these rising sophomores grow and put them at an advantage to those their age on other teams who have not featured as much at the collegiate level.
With every new season, there’s also the potential for incoming freshmen. While there have yet to be any announcements of freshmen to sign with the Gators, the summer is a time for freshmen to officially sign and help add depth to the roster. It took until July last year for Oliveras and Neilson-Gatenby to sign with Florida.
For Nilsson personally, his second season has the potential for more success, because he will have the whole season with the team.
It was not until October 2024, the middle of the fall season, when Nilsson was named head coach. The late acquisition forced many of the players and other staff had to adapt to a new coaching style right before the spring season. Having more time to understand the coaching style from the start of the fall season could lead Florida to once-again become a threat in the SEC.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the Summer 2025 women's tennis beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams.
