University of Florida Women's Tennis

Per Nilsson was named head coach of the Gators on Oct. 29, 2024, and is the seventh head coach in program history. In his first season with the Gators, Nilsson led a doubles pair to the NCAA Final Four, where they surpassed the No. 1 seed and later earned a career-high No. 3 ranking. Nilsson also guided two players to All-SEC postseason honors, including Alicia Dudeney, who ended her collegiate career on an 11-match win streak. Nilsson joined the Gators after spending nine years at Pepperdine (2015-2024). During his stint with the Waves, Nilsson garnered an impressive 211-48 (.815) overall record and led the program to every possible West Coast Conference regular season (9) and tournament (8) titles. Since Nilsson took over in 2015, Pepperdine has made the NCAA Tournament every year, including a championship debut in 2021, a semifinal appearance in 2024, and four quarterfinal appearances (2016, 2017, 2019, 2022). Under Nilsson’s helm, the Wave has finished each season since 2016 ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association top-10. Before Nilsson was named head coach of the Waves, he served as the head men’s tennis coach at fellow SEC school, Mississippi State. Between 2008 and 2014, Nilsson led the Bulldogs to back-to-back SEC West titles (2011, 2012) and brought Mississippi State to four straight NCAA Tournaments from 2011-2014. During his six seasons at Mississippi State, Nilsson developed four ITA All-Americans, 17 All-SEC selections, three SEC Freshman of the Year, an

Head Coach Per Nilsson announced hiring Axel Damiens as UF's newest Associate Head Coach in May of 2025. Damiens joined the Gators from the University of South Carolina, where he served as the Associate Head Coach for the Gamecocks in the 204-25 season. Damiens was originally hired South Carolina in July of 2022 as an assistant coach. While at South Carolina, Damiens helped the Gamecocks to three winning seasons and three consecutive NCAA postseason appearances. Before his time at South Carolina, Damiens served as Assistant Coach for the University of Pennsylvania women's tennis team in spring 2022. During his time in Philadelphia, he helped lead the Quakers to a 15-9 record, including a 5-2 Ivy League finish that featured a four-match win streak in conference play. His coaching journey has also included roles at Florida State as a graduate assistant, where he contributed to bringing in a top-ranked recruiting class and coached the highest UTR-ranked player in college tennis at the time. Damiens also spent time as a volunteer assistant coach with the Princeton men's tennis program in 2019-20. The Tigers compiled a 14-4 record that season, highlighted by wins over Auburn, Arizona, and Penn before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A former standout student-athlete himself, Damiens competed for Cal Poly from 2014–18 and served as a student assistant coach during the 2018–19 season. He recorded 50 career singles wins—one of just five Mustangs to reach that mi