Alabama
NCAA
Impressive Run Continues as No. 11 Mazen Osama and Patrick Kaukovalta Move to Semifinals of NCAA Doubles Championships
5/23/2019 8:01:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Osama/Kaukovalta are just the third doubles pair in program history to make it to the Final Four
ORLANDO, Fla. – The impressive run in the NCAA Doubles Championships continues for senior Mazen Osama and sophomore Patrick Kaukovalta after they eased past No. 35 Marius Frosa and Murkel Dellien of Wichita State, 6-3, 7-6(5), on Thursday night at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. The No. 11 duo in the nation will move on to the Final Four and play No. 32 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini of Mississippi State on Friday 6 p.m. CT.
Osama and Kaukovalta are just the third doubles pair in program history to advance to the semifinals and the first to do so since 1990. No Alabama duo has ever made it past the semifinal round.
The two sides had a tightly contested first set with Alabama holding the early 4-3 advantage, before rattling off two straight games to take the set, 6-3.
In the second, each pair held serve to make it 5-5, when Wichita State broke serve to go up 6-5. Osama and Kaukovalta responded and won the next game to force the second set tiebreaker. In the breaker, WSU jumped out to a 5-1 lead before UA took the final six points to take the set and the match.
Yesterday, Osama and Kaukovalta earned All-America honors after earning two victories in the tournament, including defeating No. 13 Blumberg/Boyden (UNC). On Tuesday, Osama and Kaukovalta picked up their first-career NCAA Doubles Tournament victories after defeating No. 17 Kellovsky/Ponwith of Arizona State in straight sets in the first round.
Osama and Kaukovalta's match on Friday expected to air live on the Tennis Channel. The broadcast will rotate coverage between the six simultaneous matches going on during the day.
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