Alabama
South Carolina
No. 15 Men's Tennis Downs No. 24 South Carolina
4/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 12, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The 15th-ranked men's tennis team closed out its 2009 home schedule in impressive fashion, defeating the 24th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks 4-0 on Senior Day at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium. The win moves the Crimson Tide to 18-6 overall and 6-4 in SEC play, with the Gamecocks fall to 15-8 overall and 3-7 against SEC opponents. Prior to the match, Alabama's five seniors were recognized in a brief ceremony with family on hand.
"It was great to get a win here on Senior Day," said head coach Billy Pate. "We did a great job of coming out ready from the start. I think we were really prepared for today. We were able to get to three points rather quickly but battled to get that fourth point."
Alabama got back to its winning ways in doubles action, taking courts two and three by the score of 8-5. Seniors Dan Buikema and Billy Mertz were first off court, defeating juniors Pedro Campos and Ivan Cressoni of South Carolina. The Tide duo broke serve at 3-2, and the one break was all they needed to collect the victory. The match at the No. 1 spot featured two nationally ranked doubles pairs, as the 28th-ranked duo of junior Deigo Cubas and freshman Ivan Machado took down the 35th-ranked pair of senior Mathieu Thibaudeau and freshman Ricky Doverspike 8-6. The match featured five breaks of serve, with the Gamecock tandem earning the last one at 4-4 and serving out the match from there. The doubles point came down to the match on court three, and it was senior Andrew Felsenthal and junior Saketh Myneni delivering the clinching win over junior Jaime Cuellar and sophomore Johannes Pulsfort. Felsenthal and Myneni jumped out to a 4-0 lead, eventually stretching the lead to 6-2. Cuellar and Pulsfort battled back, making the score 7-5, but could not overcome the hole they were in, dropping the match 8-5.
Alabama seized full control of the match by taking the first set on all six courts in singles play. Mertz cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Pulsfort at the No. 5 spot, breaking serve six times on his way to the win. The Tide went up 3-0 thanks to another comfortable straight sets victory, this one coming on court three. Buikema and Cuellar traded early breaks in the first, but Buikema would break two more times to take the set 6-2. The Alabama senior raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second set, and Cuellar only managed to salvage a hold the next game before going down 6-2, 6-1. No. 34 Myneni delivered the clinching win for the Tide, although it came in less than ordinary fashion.
Playing on court one and battling against Cubas, who is ranked No. 52 nationally, Myneni managed to break serve at 5-4 to take the first set. Cubas took a break lead early in the second, but Myneni was able to break back at 3-4. However, Cubas earned the break right back, giving himself an opportunity to serve the match into a third set. Cubas played a sloppy game, losing his serve easily to move the set to 5-5. Frustration got the best of the South Carolina junior, who was forced to forfeit the match due to multiple code violations. Both coaches agreed to stop the match after one team clinched, so the other three matches on court did not finish.
"Saketh (Myneni) was able to pull his match out and get that deciding win for us," added Pate. "The guys really played well overall. This was a great conference win. We definitely needed to break that losing streak. It was critical for us to get back on track."
The Tide will close out its regular season Saturday, April 18 when it travels to instate rival Auburn. The match is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. (CST).
RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 28 Cubas/Machado (SC) def. No. 35 Thibaudeau/Doverspike (UA) 8-6
2. Buikema/Mertz (UA) def. Campos/Cressoni (SC) 8-5
3. Felsenthal/Myneni (UA) def. Cuellar/Pulsfort (SC) 8-5
Order of Finish: 2,1,3
Singles
1. No. 34 Saketh Myneni (UA) def. No. 52 Diego Cubas (SC) 6-4, 7-5
2. No. 87 Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) vs. Pedro Campos (SC) 7-5, 6-5, unf.
3. Dan Buikema (UA) def. Jaime Cuellar (SC) 6-2, 6-1
4. Michael Thompson (UA) vs. Ivan Machado (SC) 6-3, 6-7 (3), 2-1, unf.
5. Billy Mertz (UA) def. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) 6-2, 6-2
6. Michael Jung (UA) vs. No. 123 Ivan Cressoni (SC) 7-6 (5), 4-5, unf.
Order of Finish: 5,3,1*
Players Mentioned
