Men?s Tennis Outlasts No. 21 Pepperdine on the Road
2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. ?? The 10th ranked University of Alabama men's tennis team came from behind to defeat No. 21 Pepperdine, 4-3, on the road. With the win, the Crimson Tide improves to 7-0, while Pepperdine falls to 1-4.
"Needless to say, this is a great win for our team," said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. "I have enormous respect for Adam Steinberg and his program. They are a perennial top 10 team and have a tremendous team this year."
The Tide had trouble in the top of the singles lineup. Losses at nos. 4, 1 and 3 put Alabama at a 3-1 disadvantage with three singles players left on the court. The Tide's Saketh Myneni pulled out a big win over No. 13 Bassam Beidas, 7-5, 6-2, from the No. 2 slot to move the Tide within one point of the Waves.
Junior transfer Michael Jung picked up the second singles point for the Tide from the No. 5 position. Jung defeated Mahmoud Kamel, 6-4, 7-6, in his inaugural match as a member of the Tide.
From the No. 6 slot, senior Javier Bes pulled out a three-set match against Johannes de Villiers, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, to clinch the match for Alabama.
"The match could have gone either way," said Pate. "We were fortunate to have an experienced senior to be the last guy on the court playing to clinch. He did a great job of staying composed and pulling it out."
The Tide pulled out the doubles point for the seventh straight time this season. Alabama's No. 3 tandem of Bes and Sammy Struyf defeated Kamel and de Villiers, 8-3, before the Tide's top pair of Daniel Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau defeated Andre Begemann and Omar Altman, 8-6, to clinch the point.
The win is the first for the Tide against a top 25 team this season and the first win for coach Pate over former Alabama head coach Adam Steinberg, who left Alabama in 2004 for Pepperdine.
"We can't enjoy this long as we must get home and prepare for national indoors and a very tough Texas team in the first round Friday," said Pate.
The Tide returns home this week to prepare for the ITA National Indoor Team Championships that run February 15-18, hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash.
For more information on Alabama men's tennis, visit www.rolltide.com.
#10 Alabama 4, #21 Pepperdine 3
Ralph-Strauss Tennis Center
Malibu, California
Singles
1. #22 Andre Begemann (PU) d. #99 Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) 6-1, 6-4
2. Saketh Myneni (UA) d. #13 Bassam Beidas (PU) 7-5, 6-2
3. #73 James Lemke (PU) d. Sammy Struyf (UA) 6-1, 6-3
4. #66 Omar Altmann (PU) d. Billy Mertz (UA) 6-4, 6-1
5. Michael Jung (UA) d. Mahmoud Kamel (PU) 6-4, 7-6
6. Javier Bes (UA) d. Johannes de Villiers (PU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 4,1,3,2,5,6
Doubles
1. Buikema/Thibaudeau (UA) d. Begemann/Altman (PU) 8-6
2. Beidas/Lemke (PU) d. Myneni/Felsenthal (UA) 8-4
3. Bes/Struyf (UA) d. Kamel/de Villiers (PU) 8-3
Order of finish: 3,2,1
-UA-
