History-making Bicknell credits mental toughness

National tennis player Blaise Bicknell has credited his improved mental toughness and focus not only for helping his collegiate team, the University of Florida, to win the national championship, but to also become the first Florida player in nearly half a century to finish a season unbeaten.

The Florida Men’s tennis team captured its first national title on Saturday, defeating Baylor University 4-1 in the final at the United States Tennis Association National Campus in Orlando, Florida. After losing the doubles point to Baylor earlier in the final, Florida, who entered as the number one seed, won the four singles matches needed to claim victory.

In doing so, Bicknell, 19, became the fourth player in school history to go undefeated in dual matches in a season (minimum of 20 matches played) with 23 straight victories. The last player to do so was Kevin Cook (20-0) in 1976. Bicknell said that the milestone has demonstrated his ability to keep calm under pressure and to maintain a winning mindset throughout.

“I am extremely proud of this accomplishment because I tend to lose focus sometimes in matches and so to be able to go unbeaten means I have improved my ability to focus a lot,” Bicknell told The Gleaner. “Sometimes I would lose the first set and then go to the bathroom and tell myself, ‘Dem Dead! I want to beat him so bad that he never wants to pick up a racket again.’ Then I go out with a winning mentality and just believe. Tennis is a highly mental game, so if you believe them you can.”

UNBEATEN IN DUAL MATCHES

In addition to Bicknell and Cook, Jim Oescher (27-0, 1975) and Armistead Neely (24-0, 1968) are the only ones to have gone unbeaten in dual matches. Bicknell said that the season has been rewarding because of the work put in during the months of inactivity last year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was extremely disappointed when our season got cut short last March due to COVID, and with all tournaments worldwide being cancelled, it was hard to stay motivated because I really love to work towards goals – short and long term,” Bicknell said. “However, my coach, Mel Spence, found a way, like he always does, to get me motivated and so I was able to train really hard with the Jamaica Davis Cup team of Randy Phillips and my brother, Jacob Bicknell. I think we all improved a lot during that tough time and our fitness coach, Chris Paul, is so motivating and tough that he helped us all to get much stronger, fitter and faster, which played a huge role in helping me throughout the NCAA season.”

Now a part of a national championship programme, Bicknell says he says that his progression will help him in his other pursuits this year. He is scheduled to represent Jamaica in Group Three of the Davis Cup and is hoping to improve on his ATP ranking (1402) and make the top 800.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com