Alabama Men’s Tennis Picks Up Singles Wins at CCB Collegiate Invitational
11/10/2017 10:41:00 PM | Men's Tennis
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Alabama men's tennis team got off to a hot start in the CCB Collegiate Invitational, with all three players picking up singles wins in the opening day of the tournament at the Country Club of Birmingham on Friday.
Sophomore Zhe Zhou had himself a day, earning a perfect 2-0 record to begin the tournament to advance to the semifinals of the White Singles Draw. The Tianjin, China, native jumpstarted the day with a two set victory over Mustapha Belcora of Troy, 6-3, 6-4, and then later taking care of Frazier Rengifo of East Tennessee State, 6-4, 6-4.
Zhou will play against Luca Wiedanmann of Tennessee at 12:30 p.m., on Saturday.
Sophomore Edson Ortiz started his day with a tightly-contested win over Tim Reutzel of Tulane, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3). Later in the afternoon, Ortiz was on the other side of a highly competitive match, falling to No. 125 Loic Cloes of South Alabama, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5).
Freshman Grant Stuckey opened play with a loss to Giovani Pasini of UAB, 6-3, 6-3, before bouncing back with a convincing, 6-0, 6-1, victory over Daniel Merker of Southern Miss.
Both doubles pairings of Ortiz/Zhou and Stuckey/Wagner (TUL), fell on Friday, they will play in the consolation bracket beginning on Saturday.
On Saturday, there will be two rounds of doubles beginning at 9 a.m., before the teams take a lunch break. Singles play will begin no earlier than 12:30 p.m., on Saturday. The tournament will wrap up with a final round of singles at 9 a.m., on Sunday.
The 12 teams in the tournament include: Alabama, East Tennessee State, Lipscomb, Miami, Portland, Samford, South Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Tennessee, Troy, Tulane and UAB.
Alabama Results:
(Friday)
Doubles Round One
Lugo/Rengifo (ETSU) def. Ortiz/Zhou, 8-4
Smith/Wiedenmann (Tennessee) def. Stuckey/Wagner (Tulane), 8-5
Singles Round One
Edson Ortiz def. Tim Ruetzel (Tulane), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3)
Zhe Zhou def. Mustapha Belcora (Troy), 6-3, 6-4
Giovani Pasini (UAB) def. Grant Stuckey, 6-3, 6-3
Singles Round Two
Zhe Zhou def. Frazier Rengifo (ETSU), 6-4, 6-4
Grant Stuckey def. Daniel Merker (Southern Miss), 6-0, 6-1
No. 125 Loic Cloes (South Alabama) def. Edson Ortiz, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5)
Alabama Schedule of Play:
(Saturday)
Ortiz/Zhou vs. Jankulovski/Soriano (Miami) – 9 a.m.
Stuckey/Wagner (TUL) vs. Espivov/Tortrakul (Southern Miss) – 9:30 a.m.
Ortiz/Zhou vs. TBD – 10 a.m.
Edson Ortiz vs. Adam Walton (TENN) – 12:30 p.m.
Zhe Zhou vs. Luca Wiedanmann (TENN) – 12:30 p.m.
Grant Stuckey vs. Eric Wagner (TUL) – 2 p.m.
(Sunday)
Edson Ortiz vs. TBD – 9 a.m.
Zhe Zhou vs. TBD – 9 a.m./10:30 a.m.
Grant Stuckey vs. TBD – 10:30 a.m.
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