Alabama Men’s Tennis Ranked in Preseason Singles, Doubles and Freshman/Newcomer
9/13/2016 3:26:00 PM | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's tennis team enters the 2016-17 campaign with four student-athletes that are featured in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's preseason rankings, as announced Tuesday. Freshman Thibault Cancel enters the season ranked fifth in the Oracle/ITA Division I Men's National Newcomer/Freshman Rankings. Sophomore Mazen Osama is ranked No. 34 in the singles rankings, and he is also ranked No. 26 in doubles play with his partner junior Matthew Rossouw.
Cancel, who hails from Toulouse, France, arrives to the Capstone with quality playing experience. The talented freshman achieved a top-five junior ranking in the French U-19 category, and he reached a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 1,438. He has notable wins in the ITF Futures events, as he defeated Gregoire Barrere (No. 19), Jeremy Jahn (No. 307), Jaume Plamalfeito (No.546) and Julien Demois (No. 660).
Osama returns to the roster after having finished last season ranked No. 6 doubles and No. 54 in singles. He has a great understanding of what it takes to succeed, as he was named the 2016 ITA Southern Region Rookie of the Year. The gifted sophomore was also a member of the All-SEC Second Team and All-Freshman Team, and he was the only freshman in the SEC to play predominantly at the No. 1 singles and doubles position throughout the season. Last year, Osama led the Crimson Tide with 13 singles victories in dual match play, and he was ranked nationally throughout the whole season.
Rossouw played the majority of his singles matches throughout the 2016 campaign at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots where he compiled a 10-7 mark. In doubles, he played the bulk of his matches from the No. 2 and No. 3 positions where he went 17-7. Rossouw's freshman year was spent at Tyler Junior College, where he held down the No. 1 doubles position and the No. 2 singles spot for the duration of the season.
The Tide is just a little over a week away from its first serve of the 2016 fall season with the Crimson Tide Four-In-The-Fall team event that is set for September 23-25. It's the second consecutive year that Alabama has hosted the event, and this year it welcomes Columbia, Memphis and Tulane.
Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaMTN on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
