Net News - January 21
1/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Hello Tide Tennis Faithful,
Great to be back in the swing of things. We enjoyed a fun, festive and successful opening weekend with four very competitive dual matches. Many thanks to the fans who filled the seats and a special shout out to our Crimson Racket Club for hosting members in a nice, new look hospitality room. The familiar officials were back in their chairs calling lines, announcing the score and raising the bright yellow Game Point signs at each deuce score.
No-ad scoring will be used again this season and at the NCAA Championships. This scoring rule along with one doubles set to 6 and two-out-of-three singles sets to 6. A tiebreaker to 7 will be played at 6-all. While play will be suspended once the doubles point is clinched, the same will not hold true for singles. These matches will be played out even if a match is clinched unless both coaches agree before the match starts to play "clinch-clinch". A 10-point tiebreaker will be played in lieu of a third set once a team collects 4 total points. I believe this is a great thing for our players (men & women) because it provides a result. Everyone will be given the opportunity to finish unlike last year when the entire season was played clinch-clinch. There were so many unfinished matches played that impacted a player's record, confidence and development. If a player was close to winning they were not given credit for their efforts. The same could be said with players that were losing but clawing their way back into the match without being given the chance to fight "til the bitter end" (aka ttbe). There was discussion at the annual SEC Coaches meeting last November that addressed this issue and suggested that perhaps we were hurting ourselves by electing to play clinch-clinch. We don't want to take away from any celebration that could take place at the conclusion of a match, however, we can easily continue playing following any dog piles or Gatorade jug drenching that may take place. Playing a 10-pointer wouldn't add that much additional time either. Since we adopted the clinch-clinch format a couple years ago, the SEC hasn't been as successful in the post-season as history shows while other conferences forged ahead. So, results will happen, win or lose, and we hope that the conference, and more importantly, Alabama, benefits from this scoring improvement.
Now back to last weekend's matches ... we were ready to go against No. 16 Virginia Tech, a senior laden team, with five elder statesmen in the singles line-up and playing #1-5. I believe nerves got the best of us early in the doubles before we found our rhythm. We had chances but the Hokies played pretty flawless for the first point. Singles play commenced and first sets were split down the middle - 3 for us and 3 for them. Becker O'Shaughnessey and Danny Kerznerman snatched a couple of victories for the home team and Mazen Osama was close but fell in a 10-pointer in the third set. Overall it was a good effort and one to build on as our team will continue to improve as the season goes on.
After a brief respite, the Bama boys faced a feisty Georgia State squad. We were much more efficient in the doubles portion this time around and grabbed the early lead. Five of six singles matches went our way for a solid 6-1 victory. Newcomers Spencer Richey, Mazen Osama and Grayson Goldin got their first Bama dual match singles wins, Matthew Rossouw got his first doubles victory and it was a successful finish to Opening Day.
MLK Jr. Day brought our northern neighbors to town in UAB and Samford. We jumped out to 1-0 leads following the doubles action in both matches and singles play was tight. Junior Hayes Brewer registered his first pair of doubles victories of the year. We leaned on a spirited sophomore in Sam Edwards to seal the deal against the Blazers for the victory. Sam was battling and up 6-4, 3-0 before the tables were turned. A passionate crowd for both Alabama and UAB cheered loudly including Sam's mom who was celebrating her birthday. Well she got to see her son pull off some clutch play down the stretch and Sambo clinched the team win with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory. It was so important for Sam and our team to be in that pressure moment early in the season and gain some invaluable experience. It won't be the last time we lock horns with an opponent.
Samford, led by former Alabama women's assistant coach Rahim Esmail, was next on the schedule, and we knew we were going to be in for a battle. Rahim's teams always compete so well and have caught many teams napping in the past. The Bulldogs are talented, gritty and never stop fighting. They are so good at controlling the little things that can be controlled regardless of the score. We reminded our team to be more energized and ready to go than any match over the weekend. I remember playing Samford during my first season following a tight win against UAB. We started that match, like this one, with dominant doubles play. Then unlike what happened in 2013, we kept our foot on the gas pedal and refused to let the Bulldogs take control. I was so pleased and impressed by how we seized the moment. We had a pair of doubleheader workhorses that day in Becker and Korey that played singles and doubles in both matches and secured 4 victories in the process. Like Coach Saban handing the ball off to Derrick Henry 40+ times a game, we did a bit of the same with our pair.
After a well deserved day off on Tuesday and a short, focused practice on Wednesday, the team hit the road for another match filled weekend ... so long as Mother Nature is on our side. We travel to play outdoors at the North Florida Invite where the Ospreys will host Alabama, Miami and UNC Wilmington for three matches over a two day period. The plan, weather permitting, is to play a full match on Friday morning, followed by just doubles of a second match in the afternoon. We will then start Saturday by finishing up match #2 with singles Saturday morning and play a full match that afternoon. The weather forecast, however, is a bit bleak and could "dampen" the schedule so we will update our website and social media with any changes.
Many thanks again for all of your support last weekend and I look forward to seeing you all back (with your friends) on February 5 & 7. 2015 NCAA Runner-Up Oklahoma squares off against the Tide at 5 p.m. on Friday while Sunday brings another doubleheader in Troy and Lipscomb at 1 & 5 p.m. See you soon and ...
Roll Tide!
George
Players Mentioned
