Alabama Men’s Tennis Battles to 6-1 Win Over Vanderbilt

Sunday, February 28

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

1 p.m. CT

Alabama

Vanderbilt

Photo by: Skylar Lien

Alabama Men’s Tennis Battles to 6-1 Win Over Vanderbilt

2/28/2021 6:01:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

The Crimson Tide won the doubles point and five of the six singles matches to procure its second SEC win in a row

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In a match where the Alabama men's tennis team battled from start to finish, the Crimson Tide earned a 6-1 victory over Vanderbilt Sunday afternoon at the Alabama Tennis Stadium to sweep the weekend, following a 4-3 Friday night win over No. 15 Kentucky.

Alabama goes to 10-4 on the season and 2-2 in Southeastern Conference play, while Vanderbilt is now 4-5, 0-4 in the SEC.

After Gabriel Diaz Freire and Zhe Zhou picked up a 6-2, win at No. 2, Riccardo Roberto and Patrick Kaukovalta gutted out a 7-6(6) win at No. 1 to secure the doubles point. Kaukovalta then gave UA its first singles point with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 3, and that would be the last easy point that Alabama got on Sunday. Four singles matches went to three sets, including Zhou's 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win at No. 1 that clinched the match.

Head Coach George Husack Said

"It was a weekend of slim margins and I'm proud of how our guys responded in tough situations. Our focus in practice this week was finishing, and they did a super job of doing just that. It was Patrick, Riccardo, Alexey and Edson contributing in a big way Friday night and Gabi, Zhe, Patrick and Riky today. They faced adversity and stayed calm and strong in the moment. The weekend as a whole provided some fruit for their labor and a continued drive to get better at purpose driven execution as we compete week after week this spring."

Alabama 6, Vanderbilt 1

Singles

No. 1 Zhe Zhou (UA) def. #117 George Harwell (VU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
No. 2 #89 Edson Ortiz (UA) def. Marcus Ferreira (VU) 6-0, 7-5
No. 3 Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) def. Max Freeman (VU) 6-1, 6-0
No. 4 Gabriel Diaz Freire (UA) def. Macsen Sisam (VU) 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 Riccardo Roberto (UA) def. Jeremie Casabon (VU) 6-7, 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 Joubert Klopper (VU) def. Alexey Nesterov (UA) 7-6 (7-3), 6-0

Doubles

No. 1 Riccardo Roberto/Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) def. Max Freeman/George Harwell (VU) 7-6 (8-6)
No. 2 Gabriel Diaz Freire/Zhe Zhou (UA) def. Marcus Ferreira/Macsen Sisam (VU) 6-2
No. 3 Alexey Nesterov/Edson Ortiz (UA) vs. Jeremie Casabon/Adam Sraberg (VU) 6-6 (2-0), unfinished

Up Next

Alabama remains at home next weekend, facing Auburn on Friday at 6 p.m.

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