Alabama
#23 Tulane
Alabama Men’s Tennis Advances in NCAA Tournament for First Time Since 2009 with 4-1 Upset Victory Over No. 23 Tulane
5/11/2018 6:16:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Crimson Tide will advance to play in the Tallahassee Regional Final against No. 11 Florida State tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The No. 42 Alabama men's tennis team continued its stellar season with a first round upset victory over No. 23 Tulane, 4-1, in the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center in Tallahassee, Fla. The victory marked the first time UA has advanced past the opening round of the NCAA Tournament since 2009 and the first win away from home in the tournament since 2007.
The No. 3-seeded Crimson Tide (19-12) snapped the No. 2-seeded Green Wave's (18-7) seven-game win streak coming into Friday's match and five-game win streak in the NCAA Tournament.
"It feels great, I'm very happy for the guys and the fight that they gave today," head coach George Husack said. "As I said yesterday, the best competitor would win and we really competed our tails off today."
UA is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013, while earning its first tournament win since 2009 when Alabama defeated Furman 4-0 in the Tuscaloosa Regional.
The Tide started the day by earning the doubles point in thrilling fashion. After sophomore Zhe Zhou and freshman Patrick Kaukovalta downed Erlenbusch/Ruetzel, 6-3, and the No. 26 doubles pair junior Mazen Osama and sophomore Edson Ortiz fell to No. 34 Schmitz/Moore, 6-3, it all came down to court two.
The sophomore tandem of Alexey Nesterov and Thibault Cancel were down 6-5 in the match and 30-0 in the game, before battling back to force the match to a tiebreak at 6-6. In the tiebreaker, the duo battled back-and-forth before besting Stewart/Schick, 9-7, to take the 1-0 lead.
In singles play, the Green Wave briefly tied the match after No. 113 Ewan Moore defeated Patrick Kaukovalta, 6-2, 6-0. However, the Tide responded with Cancel bouncing back with a straight-set win over Hamish Stewart, 6-4, 6-2 and moments later Nesterov earning the 6-2, 6-4, victory over Tyler Schick to put Alabama up 3-1.
The match was then clinched on court four, when Ortiz after dropping the first set, answered by winning the second set 6-2, and the third set 6-4 to give the Tide its fourth and final point of the match.
The match marked the third time this season that Alabama has defeated a ranked opponent, and also gives UA a 3-1 record in postseason play.
Alabama will be back in action tomorrow in the Tallahassee Regional Final against No. 11 Florida State at 3 p.m. CT at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center. The match will be streamed live through Seminoles.com.
Alabama Results:
Singles vs. Tulane:
- No. 10 Mazen Osama vs. No. 15 Constantin Schmitz, 7-5, 5-7, 1-0, unf.
- No. 113 Ewan Moore def. Patrick Kaukovalta, 6-2, 6-0
- Thibault Cancel def. Hamish Stewart, 6-4, 6-2
- Edson Ortiz def. Luca Erlenbusch, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
- Alexey Nesterov def. Tyler Schick, 6-2, 6-4
- Zhe Zhou vs. Tim Ruetzel, 6-4, 6-6 (5-5), unf.
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 5, 4
Doubles vs. Tulane:
- No. 34 Schmitz/Moore def. No. 26 Osama/Ortiz, 6-3
- Cancel/Nesterov def. Stewart/Schick, 7-6 (9-7)
- Zhou/Kaukovalta def. Erlenbusch/Ruetzel, 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
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Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,5
Players Mentioned
