Alabama Tennis? Winning Streak Snapped at Five
3/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Alabama (9-8, 2-4 SEC) competed well with UGA (17-0,6-0 SEC) through doubles, but the top-ranked Bulldogs proved to be too tough in singles.
The Tide had opportunities in all three doubles matches to break through and pull a possible upset. At No. 2, Dan Buikema and Andrew Felsenthal matched the Bulldogs duo of Luis Flores and Matic Omerzel point-for-point nearly the entire match. However, UGA’s duo, ranked No. 61, pulled out a 9-7 win.
Then at No. 3, Bama’s Javier Bes and Sammy Struyf jumped up two break points on Ricardo Gonzalez and Colin Purcell and led 4-1 before a controversial overrule that went in UGA’s favor swung momentum. Gonzalez and Purcell would go on to win seven of the final eight games for an 8-5 win to clinch the doubles point for UGA.
“I think we caught them a little flat early on today,” Alabama head coach Billy Pate said. “We were able to get up on them but we couldn’t capitalize.”
Even at No. 1 doubles, Joseph Jung and Mathieu Thibaudeau found themselves up a break point early over the defending NCAA Champions John Isner and Antonio Ruiz. Isner and Ruiz regrouped though for an 8-4 win.
“Mentally we have to believe in ourselves a little more when we get a lead, especially against a good team like Georgia,” Pate said. “We played well in doubles but they outplayed us in the end. All-in-all, it was a good effort for us.”
In singles, Mathieu Thibaudeau pulled out an upset win in a tough three-set match that featured tiebreakers in each of the first two sets. After Thibaudeau and No. 42 Omerzel split the first two breakers, Thibaudeau won a super breaker, 10-8, to win the match and earn his seventh dual-match win of the season.
Tennis Match Results
Alabama at Georgia
March 26, 2006 at Athens, Ga.
#1 Georgia 6, #43 Alabama 1
Singles competition
1. #1 John Isner (UGA) def. #101 Joseph Jung (ALA) 6-4, 7-6 (12-10)
2. #27 Luis Flores (UGA) def. Javier Bes (ALA) 6-4, 6-1
3. Mathieu Thibaudeau (ALA) def. #42 Matic Omerzel (UGA) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 10-8
4. Antonio Ruiz (UGA) def. Sammy Struyf (ALA) 6-3, 6-2
5. Colin Purcell (UGA) def. Dan Buikema (ALA) 6-3, 6-0
6. #103 Ricardo Gonzalez (UGA) def. Andrew Felsenthal (ALA) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #9 John Isner/Antonio Ruiz (UGA) def. Joseph Jung/Mathieu Thibaudeau (ALA) 8-4
2. #61 Luis Flores/Matic Omerzel (UGA) def. Dan Buikema/Andrew Felsenthal (ALA) 9-7
3. Ricardo Gonzalez/Colin Purcell (UGA) def. Javier Bes/Sammy Struyf (ALA) 8-5
Order of finish:
Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,2,4,6,1,3)
