Alabama Men’s Tennis Drops First SEC Road Contest at LSU, 4-3

Friday, March 9

Baton Rouge, La.

4 p.m. CT

Alabama

LSU

Alabama Men’s Tennis Drops First SEC Road Contest at LSU, 4-3

3/9/2018 7:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Match Results (PDF)

The Crimson Tide will look to bounce back next Friday against No. 27 Mississippi State

BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 37 Alabama men's tennis team dropped its first Southeastern Conference match of the season, after falling to LSU 4-3 at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, La., on Friday night.

The Crimson Tide drops to 14-4 on the season and 0-3 in SEC play with the loss, while the Tigers improve to 8-5 and 1-2 in SEC competition.

To begin doubles play, the No. 46 duo in the country in sophomores Alexey Nesterov and Thibault Cancel were defeated by Wagner/Moreno, 6-3, before moments later No. 31 junior Mazen Osama and sophomore Edson Ortiz pushed past Csonka/Saborio, 6-4. It was up to freshman Riccardo Roberto and sophomore Zhe Zhou to earn the doubles point for the Tide. The tandem fell just short after losing the 6-6 tiebreaker, 7-3 to Monroe/Block.

In singles play, Ortiz got the Tide back on track with his dominant, 6-4, 6-0, victory over Julian Saborio to tie the match at 1-1. The Tigers had an answer with Shane Monroe taking down No. 92 Osama, 6-4, 6-4, while Rafael Wagner defeated Zhou, 6-4, 6-4 to give LSU the 3-1 advantage.

Roberto picked up his first-career SEC singles win with a 7-5, 6-4, victory over Agie Moreno to trim the deficit to 3-2. The Alabama comeback fell short after Gabor Csonka bested Cancel in a tough three-set battle, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

With the match already clinched, Nesterov finished off Nik Samardzic, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2, to officially end the match at 4-3 in favor of the Tigers.

The Crimson Tide will return to action next Friday, Mar. 16 with a home match against No. 27 Mississippi State. Alabama will play outdoors in the Alabama Tennis Stadium, with the match beginning at 6 p.m. CT.

Alabama Results:

Singles vs. LSU:

Rafael Wagner def. No. 92 Mazen Osama, 6-4, 6-4

Gabor Csonka def. Thibault Cancel, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5

Rafael Wagner def. Zhe Zhou, 6-4, 6-4

Edson Ortiz def. Julian Saborio, 6-4, 6-0

Alexey Nesterov def. Nik Samardzic, 2-6, 7-6 (), 6-2

Riccardo Roberto def. Agie Moreno, 7-5, 6-4

Order of Finish: 4, 3, 1, 6, 2, 5

Doubles vs. LSU:

No. 31 Ortiz/Osama def. Csonka/Saborio, 6-4

Wagner/Moreno def. No. 46 Cancel/Nesterov, 6-3

Monroe/Block def. Roberto/Zhou, 7-6 (7-3)

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

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