Men's Tennis Kicks off 2009 at Key Biscayne Invitational
1/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 8, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The men's tennis team will open its 2009 spring season at the Key Biscayne Invitational held at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Fla. The 23rd ranked Crimson Tide will face opponents from three other institutions including No. 2 Texas, No. 16 Michigan and No. 58 Georgia Tech.
"This weekend will be a fantastic opportunity to get outside and play against three of the top teams in the nation," said head coach Billy Pate. "We'll get a chance to continue evaluating our players to see where they stack up as the dual match portion of the season is only two weekends away. This event will be a huge measuring stick for all of them, especially for the underclassman."
A total of nine players will represent Alabama at the event including seniors Dan Buikema, Andrew Felsenthal, Michael Jung and Billy Mertz, juniors Saketh Myneni and Houssam Yassine, sophomore Trey Walston and freshman John Lewis. Newcomer Michael Thompson will also take part in the tournament making his debut in the crimson and white.
The Longhorns welcome back four singles starters and five doubles starters from its 2008 NCAA runner-up squad including junior Dimitar Kutrovsky, who ranks No. 31 on the ITA Preaseason Singles list. Three seniors, three juniors and four sophomores make up the Wolverines' experienced squad for the 2009 season. The Michigan duo of junior Mike Sroczynski and sophomore Jason Jung advanced to the consolation semifinals at the ITA National Indoor Tournament on Nov. 8. The Yellow Jackets collected 54 singles victories and 16 doubles wins in fall action, highlighted by the play of sophomore Guillermo Gomez. Gomez, who finished with a 13-3 singles record, ranks No. 14 nationally.
There will be no winning team at the conclusion of the event, however, there will be individual champions based on a predetermined point systems. The Tide will play both singles and doubles matches on Friday and Saturday and finish up with one round of singles on Sunday.
A complete recap and updated results will be available at the conclusion of play on each day at Rolltide.com.
Next up, Alabama travels to Lexington, Ky. for the SEC Indoor Tournament Jan. 16-19. The Tide's first home event of the spring will take place on Saturday, Jan. 24 when it hosts a double header against Troy at 10:00 a.m. (CST) and Furman at 3:00 p.m. (CST).
Players Mentioned
