Florida Women’s Tennis To Host ITA Kick-Off Weekend

The Florida women’s tennis team will cap off a week of freezing temperatures in the Sunshine State when the Gators host the combination of Miami, LSU and FIU for the ITA Kickoff Weekend.

Play begins Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex where Florida faces FIU before LSU and Miami dual for the second championship spot at 1 p.m.

Miami vs. LSU

Despite ranking second in the four-team tournament, Miami enters the weekend at 0-2 after suffering hefty losses to FAU and FIU (1-4, 0-4). Louisiana State cruises into the ITA Kickoff boasting a 2-0 record thanks to victories over San Diego and UC Santa Barbara (5-2, 6-1).

UF vs. FIU

The Gators and the Panthers clash Saturday morning, each possessing 1-0 records. Both teams also boast a nationally ranked duo in doubles.

Florida’s Alicia Dudeney-Rachel Gailis are ranked as the No. 3 doubles pair in the nation after leading the Gators to a final-four finish in the 2024 NCAA tournament. Florida International’s Oyinlomo Quadre-Katerina Mandelikova are the No. 39 pair in the nation after defeating the No. 25 team from Ohio State to advance to the quarterfinals of last year’s NCAA Doubles Championships.

Even with two top-100 singles players, No. 52 Quadre and No. 80 Ekaterina Khairutdinova, FIU has received a fourth-place ranking among the four teams competing in Gainesville this weekend.

Standouts

This week, FIU’s Khairutdinova earned the Conference USA Singles Athlete of the Week award, while she and her partner Valery Gynina earned a second-straight Doubles Team of the Week award. Last weekend, the Panther pair trounced a Miami doubles team 6-0 before both putting on impressive performances in singles play.

For the Gators, freshmen Nikola Daubnerova and Noémie Oliveras each notched decisive victories (6-0, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-0 respectively) over UNF opponents, while Talia Neilson-Gatenby made an impressive first set comeback, ultimately winning her match 7-6, 6-4. Dudeney also gave the Gators momentum heading into this weekend’s ITA Kickoff by performing well, securing Florida points with both her win in doubles, alongside Bente Spee (6-3), and triumph in singles (6-3, 6-2).

Doubles on lock 🔒

Dudeney & Spee : 6️⃣ -3️⃣
Neilson-Gatenby & Daubnerova : 6️⃣ -3️⃣#GoGators pic.twitter.com/OW9xiSJQp4

— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) January 19, 2025

Up Next

The winners of Saturday’s two matches will advance to the ITA Kickoff Weekend Championship at 2 p.m. Sunday, when the tournament’s champion will be crowned.

Upon the conclusion of the weekend’s ITA Kickoff, Florida will set its sights to the frozen tundra of Michigan. The Gators will look to gain more momentum this weekend before they travel to Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines on Tuesday.