No. 33 Alabama Men’s Tennis Represented in Latest Oracle/ITA Team, Singles and Doubles Rankings
2/20/2018 12:15:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 33 in the country in the latest team rankings
TEMPE, Ariz. – The Alabama men's tennis team comes in ranked No. 33 in the country according to the first computerized Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Men's Division I Team Rankings on Tuesday, as announced by the association.
Junior Mazen Osama also cracked the Top 125 Singles Rankings coming in at No. 113, while the duo of Osama and sophomore Edson Ortiz rank as the No. 34 doubles tandem in the nation and the sophomore pair of Thibault Cancel and Alexey Nesterov come in at No. 40 in the doubles rankings.
The Crimson Tide is off to its best start in program history after beginning the 2018 season with a perfect 12-0 record. Alabama had been receiving national votes for the previous two Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Men's Division I Top 25 Team Rankings, before coming in ranked as No. 33 in the Top 50 computerized rankings.
In singles, Osama is nationally ranked for the first time in 2018 after compiling a 5-0 record for the Tide this season. The Cairo, Egypt native, is UA's top singles player this season, competing in the No. 1 singles spot for Alabama. The junior is no stranger to being one of the top players in the country, as he was ranked all of the 2017 season and finished the year as the No. 29 singles player in the country.
In their first season as a duo, Ortiz and Osama have compiled a perfect 8-0 record. The tandem has been dominant in the No. 1 doubles spot, clinching numerous doubles points for the Tide, including defeating one nationally ranked pair when they cruised past then-No. 14 Harper/Korsgaard of Virginia Tech, 6-2 on Jan. 26.
Cancel and Nesterov earned a Top 60 doubles ranking for the first time this season after recording a 6-1 mark so far in 2018. The tandem is 2-0 in the No. 1 doubles spot, while going 4-1 in the No. 2 spot as a duo.
Alabama men's tennis returns to action for the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday Feb. 23 and Saturday Feb. 24. The match times and opponents have yet to be announced.
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