Men's Tennis to Play Texas Tech in First Round of Blue Gray National Tennis Classic

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama men's tennis team will be back in action against Texas Tech on Friday, Feb. 21 at 9 a.m. CT in the first round of the 72^nd Annual Blue Gray National Tennis Classic at Lagoon Park in Montgomery, Ala.

Other schools participating in this year's eight-team tournament include Auburn, Ole Miss, Middle Tennessee, Princeton, Fresno State and Arizona.

The Tide will begin the Blue Gray event by taking on TTU on Friday morning, before completing the doubles portion of the second match against either Middle Tennessee or Arizona that same day. Singles play will continue on Saturday, along with a final opponent to be announced after the completion of the morning matches.

Series History

This is the fourth meeting between the two teams since 2017, including last year's matchup in the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic with the Crimson Tide coming out with the 4-1 victory over the Red Raiders in the final consolation round on Feb. 23, 2019.

Team Info

The Crimson Tide (7-2) last played on Feb. 7 when UA defeated Tulsa, 6-1, at home.
In 2020, Alabama has been led by senior Zhe Zhou who has a perfect 8-0 singles record in dual match play. Juniors Jeremy Gschwendtner (6-1) and Patrick Kaukovalta (7-1) only have one loss in singles competition.
No. 80 senior Edson Ortiz and No. 125 Riccardo Roberto each have four singles wins at the top of the Tide singles lineup.

Opponent Info

The Red Raiders (6-3) have a 1-1 record against SEC opponents this season after falling to then-No. 9 Texas A&M, 6-1, on Feb. 2 and then defeating previously No. 20 Mississippi State, 4-2, in Starkville on Feb. 9.
Texas Tech has three players ranked in singles with No. 53 Parker Wynn, No. 74 Ilgiz Valiev and No. 123 Reed Collier. Wynn and Bjorn Thomson are the No. 55 doubles duo in the nation.

Follow Along

Fans can follow along with live stats available on bluegraytennis.com.

Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaMTN on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.