Alabama
San Diego State
No. 23 Alabama Rolls Past San Diego State, 5-2
2/8/2019 6:52:00 PM | Men's Tennis
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The No. 23-ranked Alabama men's tennis team defeated the San Diego State Aztecs 5-2 on Friday night at the Aztec Tennis Center. With the win, the Crimson Tide improves to an overall 7-1 record, while San Diego State falls to 2-2.
"Today was a good start to the outdoor season with a solid performance over a very spirited Aztec team," said head coach George Husack. "We faced challenges in both doubles and singles but kept our heads in the game and capitalized, attacked, and snatched our opportunities. Today, the Alabama whole was greater than the sum of the parts."
The Aztecs won a 6-3 decision on court one over senior Mazen Osama and sophomore Patrick Kaukovalta to begin doubles play. Alabama responded back, as juniors Alexey Nesterov and Thibault Cancel topped Jan Kirchhoff and Ignacio Martinez 6-4 on court three. With the doubles point on the line, juniors Edson Ortiz and Zhe Zhou defeated Nicholas Mitchell and Fabian Rosensdorf in a 7-5 decision to give Alabama a 1-0 match lead headed into singles play.
In singles play, the Tide carried the momentum in straight sets as Ortiz dominated court two, 6-1, 6-4, and Zhe Zhou won, 6-3, 6-1, on court three. No. 40 Mazen Osama clinched the match victory, 6-4, 6-4, on court one. Cancel outlasted Ignacio Martinez in a tiebreaker thriller, 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8). San Diego State went on to win the final two points as sophomore Jeremy Gschwendtner fell, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), and Jan Kirchhoff won a 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) 10-3, decision over Nesterov.
Alabama will remain on the road, when the team travels to Malibu, Calif. to play Pepperdine on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT.
Alabama Results
Doubles
- Gjoels-Andersen/Gonzalez-Almazan def. Osama/Kaukovalta, 6-3
- Cancel/Nesterov def. Kirchhoff/Martinez, 6-4
- Zhou/Ortiz def. Mitchell/Rosensdorf, 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
- No. 40 Mazen Osama def. Fabian Roensdorf, 6-4, 6-4
- Edson Ortiz def. Sander Gjoels-Andersen, 6-1, 6-4
- Thibault Cancel vs. Ignacio Martinez, 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8)
- Zhe Zhou def. Arnaud Restifo, 6-3, 6-1
- Jan Kirchhoff def. Alexey Nesterov, 4-6, 7-6(5), 1-0 (10-3)
- Rafael Gonzalez-Almazan def. Jeremy Gschwendtner, 6-4, 7-6(5)
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1, 3, 5, 6
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Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
2,4,1,3,5,6
Players Mentioned
