Alabama Tennis Advances at SEC Tournament with Win Over Auburn
4/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA ?? On the strength of Billy Mertz' third set victory at No. 5 singles, the Alabama men's tennis team (14-11, 4-7 SEC) defeated rival Auburn 4-1 in the first round of the SEC Tennis Tournament Thursday. The Crimson Tide will now play No. 1-ranked Georgia (22-0, 11-0 SEC) Friday at 2 p.m. at the UA Tennis Complex.
"It was a close match and could have gone either way," Alabama head coach Billy Pate said. "It's difficult to beat a good team like Auburn twice in a week. It was 3-1 with three matches still left playing, yet we knew that we had to find a way to win one of them. For a while I wasn't sure where it was going to come from."
The Tide took a 3-1 lead late in the match after Mathieu Thibaudeau, who clinched Alabama's win over Auburn last Saturday, defeated Milan Krnjetin 6-3, 6-4. However, ??Bama still needed to pick up another win somewhere along the way to clinch the match. That's when Mertz and Jung each made their move for the Tide.
Both Mertz and Jung found themselves up a break in their third sets and each served to clinch the match simultaneously. Jung, however, couldn't close it out at No. 1 over Alex Schweizer when Schweizer broke Jung to get the match back on-serve. Mertz was there to pick up the slack though and served out for the win.
"Joe really kept us in the match when we really didn't know where the fourth win would come from," Pate said. "Even though Joe wasn't able to clinch it, Billy (Mertz) was there when we needed him."
Jung's third set was as exciting as any set played on the opening day of action. Schweizer jumped up a break on Jung immediately to start the set. Jung fought back though to even it at 2-2. In fact, Jung broke Schweizer's serve twice in a row and jumped ahead 5-2 in the final set.
The win is Alabama's fifth consecutive win and second over Auburn in the last six days and stretches Alabama's winning streak over in-state opponents to 11.
Unlike last Saturday's match, Alabama was able to win the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead in the match. Mertz and Javier Bes played at No. 1 doubles for the first time this season, but it made no difference. The duo continued to roll and improved to 13-4 on the season and 8-1 against SEC competition with an 8-5 win to clinch the point.
"Doubles was probably the key to the match today," Pate said. "We knew coming in with Alex Schweizer back in the line-up for Auburn that it would be very important to win the doubles point and carry a little momentum into singles and make them realize they were in for an uphill climb. We didn't do that last Saturday. Fortunately, today we did it."
The win also advances Alabama into the second round at the tournament for the first time since 2003. The Tide traveled to Athens on March 26 and lost to Georgia 6-1. This time ??Bama will get them on their home court. The match will begin at 2 p.m. Admission for students is free and more ticket information is available at www.rolltide.com
Tennis Match Results
Auburn vs Alabama
Apr 20, 2006 at
Alabama 4, Auburn 1
Singles competition
1. #75 Joseph Jung (ALA) vs. #124 Alex Schweizer (AUB) 4-6, 6-4, 5-4, unfinished
2. Javier Bes (ALA) def. Robbert Lathouwers (AUB) 7-5, 6-2
3. Sammy Struyf (ALA) vs. Nick Lane (AUB) 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, unfinished
4. Mathieu Thibaudeau (ALA) def. Milan Krnjetin (AUB) 6-3, 6-4
5. Billy Mertz (ALA) def. Lukas Marsoun (AUB) 6-0, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4
6. Pawel Dilaj (AUB) def. Dan Buikema (ALA) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Javier Bes/Billy Mertz (ALA) def. Robbert Lathouwers/Lukas Marsoun (AUB) 8-5
2. Mathieu Thibaudeau/Dan Buikema (ALA) def. Alex Schweizer/Nick Lane (AUB) 8-5
3. Terence Nugent/Pawel Dilaj (AUB) vs. Joseph Jung/Andrew Felsenthal (ALA) 5-4, unfinished
Match Notes:
Alabama 14-11, 4-7
Auburn 14-10, 4-7
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (6,2,4,5)
