FLUSHING, N.Y. – Florida sophomore Allie Will and freshman Sofie Oyen won the doubles championship at the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships Sunday at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The Gator tandem won by enacting revenge from the Clemson team of Josipa Bek and Keri Wong, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Bek and Wong, the fifth-ranked doubles team in the country, had beaten Will and Oyen, now ranked 18th, in the season-opening Riviera ITA event. The Gators duo now has won 11 straight doubles matches to end the fall season.
“This was one of the best doubles matches I’ve seen in my 16 years of coaching tennis,” Florida coach Roland Thornqvist said. “Both teams played phenomenal tennis. There was great defense, tactical changes. We didn’t think we were being as aggressive serving as we could have been and told ourselves that if we had a chance to be in that position again, we would go for it. We weren’t going to sit back and hope they miss. That little change in our mentality made all the difference.”
Will and Oyen became the third different Gator tandem to win the USTA-ITA National Indoor Championships doubles title, joining the team of Nicole Arendt and Jillian Alexander, which won the 1991 crown, and Dawn Buth and Stephanie NIckitas, who captured the 1996 championship.
Oyen and Will are the 18th and 19th different Gators to win an individual Grand Slam title, as the freshman and sophomore, respectively, produced the 24th championship trophy for the Florida program.