2021 NET NEWS, Volume 6
2/26/2021 11:39:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Roll Tide from T-Town,
We're back home after a weekend trip down to 'The Swamp' (Florida) and 'The Palmetto State' (South Carolina). While we endured a few bumps and bruises in our tight battles with the Gators and Gamecocks, the challenging competition was natural, normal, and quite frankly, necessary.Â
The SEC (Southeastern Conference) introduced a tagline in 2016 – "It Just Means More" – which not only spoke to the athletic success that the SEC is well known for but communicated more to the story of its conference members. Great history, legacy and overall positive impacts to the communities in which these schools are located. That said, matches on the road in the SEC are a one-of-a-kind experience. When you arrive in Gainesville or Columbia as we did last weekend, you know right away who the community's favorite team is, as everywhere you turn there are school colors, logos and other memorabilia passionately displayed for visitors to see. So it's a 'natural' thing in these communities to love the SEC school that adorns their community and even more 'natural' to dislike any visiting SEC teams that in town.
From a 'normalcy' perspective, we haven't exactly had many normal things happen this year, but we are competing and plenty has been done to ensure that we can compete from week to week. SEC schools have invested a ton of support and resources in order to make competition safe, secure and a reality. As the definition of normal states, "conforming to a standard; usual, typical or expected." We certainly saw what Florida and South Carolina had set up for us off the court and also between the baselines. Our team returned to the same hotels that we have stayed at the last several trips to these locales and got to eat, sleep, practice and compete in conditions that we have grown accustomed to…well, almost.Â
When we arrived in Gainesville on Thursday, the temps were high (75-80 degrees) and our guys were sweating like they would be after 30 minutes in a steam room. Thick air and warmth were definitely new to us but very much welcomed as we all were in shorts and t-shirts as the sun began to set. The next morning, however, the angels were crying and wet weather covered Gainesville for the next 12 hours. So we played our match indoors, on three courts and gave the Gators plenty to handle. We gave ourselves many opportunities starting first in doubles as we captured a win on court 3 with Alexey Nesterov and Edson Ortiz debuting in fine fashion which gave us a chance to clinch the point on courts 1 & 2. Those matches went back and forth and back and forth … who was going to prevail? After Florida snatched the W at #3 with a late service break, Patrick Kaukovalta and Riccardo Roberto forged ahead in a deciding tiebreaker. Point here, point there, opportunity here, opportunity there. Gators are opportunistic feeders. Their diets include prey species that are abundant and easily accessible. I wouldn't say that we were easily accessible but they capitalized on their few opportunities better than we did. Doubles point fed to Florida.
I believe the outcome impacted our squad as we started singles with a different vibe than we had in the thick of doubles. Several matches began with one set deficits but our resilience and determination was very evident. Riccardo, who grew up on red clay in Italy and wouldn't say that indoor tennis is his favorite, accepted the challenge in front of him and defeated former Top-10 player, Johannes Ingildsen, in straight sets. Edson was in a rematch with Sam Riffice on the same court as he was two years ago at the SEC Championships as was Zhe Zhou against Duarte Vale. Jeremy Gschwendtner battled as did Patrick and Alexey. We went up breaks in many of the second sets and served for the sets as well. We were prepared and in position for a long night but so too were the opportunistic Gators. We gave a valiant effort but they came out on top.
The next morning we traveled north on I-95 to Columbia aboard a 40-seat Cline Tours charter bus with Mr. Ken at the wheel. By far the best bus experience of my Alabama career and Ken was a tremendous driver, and from what I learned, also a middle school teacher in Alabama. The coach was clean, comfortable, streaming Direct TV and wifi capable. A smooth ride is good for the mind. We arrived at South Carolina for a mid-afternoon hit on much slower courts than the speedy surface at The Swamp. It took a little while to get used to but we battled through the bounces, sticky movement, framed shots and breezy conditions. We had yet to play an outdoor match and had only a few days of outdoor practices back at home.  I felt like it resembled what an Ivy league team looked like in their first few hits after being indoors for months. While preparations coming into the match may have been spotty, one "normal" expectation was that we would have an absolute battle with the Gamecocks. Here's a rundown of our most recent showdowns – 2016: 5-2 Bama, 2017: 4-3 South Carolina, 2018: 4-3 South Carolina, 2019: 4-2 Bama & 2020: 4-3 Bama. "Naturally" this would be a very close match…and it was.
A healthy amount of fans proudly wearing garnet and black, were on hand for our dual which started with first serves and doubles at high noon. Gabriel Diaz Freire and Zhe struck first in doubles with a solid win on court 2, while Edson and Alexey were narrowly beaten on court 3. Riky and Patrick faced match points, saved them and then earned them back while shouts of "This ain't Alabama football!" and "Coach Saban isn't here to help you!" were yelled along with the traditional crowing of "Game! Cocks! Game! Cocks!". A lot of noise and support for the home team where being calm, cool, consistent and courageous proved better for the Crimson Tide. Point Bama, Roll Tide!
Onto singles and the message was clear – keep forging ahead, create opportunities, tune out the chatter, go for it and finish. This is where the 'necessary' piece of our trip surfaced – it was "required to be done, achieved, or present; needed; essential." And onward we went with a challenge ahead of us, our greatest one of this young season. We had our backs against the wall versus Tulane in late January but that was inside and in the history books. Due to the earlier start of the SEC and pandemic restrictions, we eliminated some additional non-conference matches to prepare us for conference, including the Blue Gray tournament, where we play three matches in two days and it requires plenty of mental, physical and emotional ability. Enough of the excuses, it was what it was. Now it was time to compete.
The Gamecocks grabbed a couple of points early in the singles portion to jump ahead 2-1, but Riky 'Rise and Shine' Roberto evened the score with a win on the very court he had lost a match decider two years prior. Demons were there but he sent them to bed with another gritty performance. Jeremy was out in front of his opponent before sustaining an ankle injury and a forced retirement. Jeremy being Jeremy, apologized to me for not being able to continue, but I told him we should be sorry for his injury. No worries. Your teammates have your back. Patrick and Gabi went into respective third set frames breaking their opponents' serves but also having their serves broken. There wasn't much separating a win from a loss as the Gamecock faithful cheered on. In the end, the home team prevailed in what USC head coach Josh Goffi later called a war of two good teams wanting what the other team wanted.
So we jumped on the bus which Ken had ready to roll and began our trek back to Tuscaloosa. While it was easy to simply look at results and say thumbs up or thumbs down, this "necessary" trip was great for us. It gave us more clarity as to what we needed to improve upon during the upcoming week. We competed very well, created opportunities and must now do a better job of finishing as we prepare for Wildcats, Commodores, Tigers, Bulldogs, Volunteers, Tigers, Aggies, Bulldogs, Rebels (or Landsharks) and Razorbacks.
First up are the 'Cats (Kentucky) and 'Dores (Vanderbilt) on Friday and Sunday. While Tuscaloosa has seen some excellent weather this week, the initial forecast for Friday's contest called for indoor tennis. As of this posting, however, the weather has since changed (a "normal" thing for Alabama) and it looks like Friday Night Lights will happen. This means FANS IN THE STANDS!!! And fans wearing crimson and white. What a joy it will be to see familiar faces and hear those cheers. Sunday now looks wet but we will continue to be patient, present and prepared. No need to rush or worry as fans attempted to get us to do in Columbia. Let's start with Kentucky on Friday at 6pm and then look to Vanderbilt on Sunday at 1pm. Live stream is available for our out-of-towners and live tennis action is available for our in-towners, upstairs in the stands with social distancing and masks…so long as we play outside. Sounds like another natural, normal and necessary weekend for all of us and SEC tennis. Stay calm and…
Roll Tide,
George
George Husack
Head Men's Tennis Coach
The University of Alabama
Players Mentioned
