Alabama
NCAA
History Made as No. 11 Mazen Osama and Patrick Kaukovalta Advance to Program's First NCAA Doubles Championship
5/24/2019 8:27:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Osama/Kaukovalta will play No. 2 Maxim Cressy and Keegan Smith of UCLA in the national championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT
ORLANDO, Fla. – History was made as senior Mazen Osama and sophomore Patrick Kaukovalta advanced to the Alabama men's tennis program's first-ever national championship after cruising past No. 32 Giovanni Oradini and Niclaus Braun of Mississippi State, 6-2, 7-5, in the semifinal round of the NCAA Doubles Championships on Friday night at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
The No. 11 pair in the country will battle No. 2 Maxim Cressy and Keegan Smith of UCLA on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT for the NCAA Doubles National Championship. The championship appearance is the first in program history in any NCAA Championship, including singles, doubles and the team tournament.
"It was a super performance by Mazen (Osama) and Patrick (Kaukovalta) tonight," head coach George Husack said. "They did very well calling their serves and holding much like a catcher calling pitches for strikes. They became more aggressive with their returns late in the second and capitalized on opportunities. They are on a good path and determined to finish strong against a tough UCLA team tomorrow. It should be an entertaining match."
The Crimson Tide set the tone early after breaking the Bulldogs' serve to take the 3-1 advantage in the opening set. Osama and Kaukovalta closed out the crucial first set by winning 6-2.
In the second, each side held serve making it 5-5 before the Tide broke through. Alabama broke serve to go up 6-5 and was just one game away from a ticket to the national championship. In the final point, Kaukovalta served, after a short MSU return, Osama slammed the ball to where no Bulldog could return to send UA to the final round of the tournament.
Osama and Kaukovalta have won all of their matches in the NCAA Doubles Championships in straight sets.
Yesterday, Osama and Kaukovalta became just the third doubles pair in program history to advance to the semifinals and the first to do so since 1990. On Wednesday, 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.
On the UCLA side, Cressy/Smith defeated No. 6 Stodder/Touliatos of Tennessee, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinal round to advance to the championship.
Saturday's match will be live streamed on the USTA's website. Follow in-match updates on the Alabama Men's Tennis Twitter page.
Alabama NCAA Doubles Results
Round of 32: No. 11 Osama/Kaukovalta def. No. 17 Kellovsky/Ponwith (Arizona State), 6-2, 6-4
Round of 16: No. 11 Osama/Kaukovalta def. No. 13 Blumberg/Boyden (UNC), 7-5, 6-2
Quarterfinal: No. 11 Osama/Kaukovalta def. No. 35 Frosa/Dellien (Wichita State), 6-3, 7-6(5)
Semifinal: No. 11 Osama/Kaukovalta def. No. 32 Braun/Oradini (Mississippi State), 6-2, 7-5
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