Brodersen Leads Tide in Upset of No. 23 Arkansas
4/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Two days after leading the Alabama tennis team to one of its biggest wins in recent history over No. 7 Rice, Alabama senior Christian Brodersen came through in the clutch again, clinching victory in the Crimson Tide’s upset of No. 23 Arkansas at the UA student recreation courts in Tuscaloosa on Friday.
The win improved No. 58 Alabama to 8-9 (2-5 SEC) on the year, while Arkansas fell to 11-6 (2-5 SEC). Brodersen battled his bad back and the wind, losing his first set 6-2 against Arkansas’ Imraan Ismail at No. 6 singles before coming back to win in the third.
“The match today just goes to show how valuable Christian has been to our program the past four years,” Alabama head coach Billy Pate said. “It demonstrates how much we’ve missed him lately, too.
“He still doesn’t feel completely comfortable out there and he still needs to shake off some rust, but he’s unflappable in a clutch situation like today. He just doesn’t feel the pressure like most players do.”
Brodersen clinched the win over Rice on Wednesday, and also clinched the Tide’s upset of No. 9 Ole Miss in 2001. He has been known as Mr. Dependable to his teammates throughout his career.
“It’s always a challenge,” Brodersen said. “Every match is different, but you have to take advantage when you have opportunities no matter what the score in the match is. I don’t know how I do it. I think I have about 25 different personalities.”
The Crimson Tide once again needed four singles wins to take the match, after dropping the doubles point for the 12th straight match. No. 55 singles player Stephen Mitchell continued his hot play, scoring the Tide’s first point with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 83 Nathan Price. The win was Mitchell’s 7th over a ranked opponent this season.
Joseph Jung continued to be Alabama’s most reliable player, defeating Razorback Rohan Gajjar 6-1, 7-6 (3). Jung improved his record to 12-2 at the No. 3 singles position this season.
“Joseph has been our most consistent point this year,” Pate said. “He has a unique and crafty style which makes him difficult to play against. He has quietly evolved into one of the players to watch in the conference.”
Another freshman, Guelph, Ontario native Eric Molnar gave the Crimson Tide its first lead of the match with a win at No. 4 singles. His two-set win over Matt Simpson gave Alabama a 3-2 lead and set the table for Brodersen’s clinching victory.
RJ Murray won in a shortened third-set to make to give the Crimson Tide its 5-2 victory over Arkansas.
Alabama goes for its third straight upset on Sunday, hosting No. 11 LSU on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the UA rec courts.
# 58 Alabama 5, # 23 Arkansas 2
Doubles
1. Price/Simpson (Ark) d. Mitchell/Gostek (UA) 9-7
2. Murray/Jung (UA) d. Ismail/Roberts (Ark) 8-6
3. Zguns/Gajjar (Ark) d. Molnar/Mike Green (UA) 8-4
Singles
1. Stephen Mitchell (UA) d. Nathan Price (Ark) 6-3, 6-3
2. No. 10 Adrians Zguns (Ark) d. Chris Gostek (UA) 6-3, 6-1
3. Joseph Jung (UA) d. Rohan Gajjar (Ark) 6-1, 7-6 (3)
4. Eric Molnar (UA) d. Matt Simpson (Ark) 7-5, 6-2
5. RJ Murray (UA) d. Matt Roberts (Ark) 5-7, 7-6, (13-11)
6. Christian Brodersen (UA) d. Imraan Ismail (Ark) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Order: Doubles: 3-1-2 Singles: 2-1-4-3-6-5
