2021 NET NEWS, Volume 7
3/4/2021 7:12:00 PM | Men's Tennis
It's Iron Bowl Week!
The longtime, historical clash between Alabama and Auburn continues this week in tennis as both the men's and women's teams take on our friends from "the loveliest village on the plains."  Why is Auburn known as "The Plains"? It is taken from a line in the poem The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith: "Sweet Auburn! Loveliest village of the plain..." Auburn in this poem, however, is located in Ireland and not in Alabama. Be that as it may, it marks the 97th men's tennis match between the two institutions since 1949 with the Crimson Tide holding a 62-33-1 record against the Tigers. First serve is set for 6 pm on Friday, March 5 under the lights at the UA Varsity Tennis Stadium, and like last weekend, admission is free and all fans are welcome so long as the match is played outdoors. As of this post, the weather forecast looks good and calls for 60-degree weather tomorrow evening. In this wild year of college athletics, Alabama has performed very well in our Iron Bowl clashes with the following results – Football def. Auburn 42-13; Men's Basketball won twice 94-90 & 70-58; Women's Basketball also swept their series 63-55 & 92-78; Women's Gymnastics won 196.925-195.575 in their dual meet; Women's Soccer won 1-0; and, while the annual Iron Bowl swimming meet was canceled, both Alabama men and women swam far ahead of Auburn at the recent SEC Championships. Softball plays at Auburn March 12-14, Women's Soccer will host March 27 in a rare spring game and Baseball hosts the Tigers April 15-17. So more Iron Bowls to take place and so far the Crimson & White have been outstanding.
Rewinding the highlights from last weekend's SEC home series, what a thrill it was to play in front of our fans and also score a pair of thrilling victories. First on Friday under the lights against #15 Kentucky, we secured the doubles point by winning on court 3 with Alexey Nesterov and Edson Ortiz as well as on court 1 with Patrick Kaukovalta and Riccardo Roberto. Patrick and Riky saved four match points at 4-5 en route to a tiebreak victory that sent us into singles with momentum and determination. Like at South Carolina, our #1 pair faced adversity and remained calm, while ultimately delivering and finishing when they needed it most. Point Bama, Roll Tide!
Onto singles and it was clear the Cats were going to claw their way back into the match. They struck first on court 2 while Riccardo struck again and pushed us ahead 2-1 with a win on court 5. The Kentucky blue and white evened the match after winning on court 1 but El Toro Ortiz chalked up an impressive performance on court 2 like a doctor performing standard surgery. The last two matches remained on courts 4 & 6 with Gabriel Diaz Freire and Alexey battling. UK came out on top with a win over Gabi so all eyes shifted to Alexey who had been in several match deciders during his college career. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, our Finance graduate student from Moscow shifted to a new gear and won the second set easily 6-1. The third set began with both teams lined up on each end of the court supporting their teammate while the home crowd hollered from the stands above. A service break against Alexey put him in an 0-1 deficit but as you know from watching Alexey, he welcomes any challenge and ate up the moment while dripping enough sweat to fill up a standard sized garbage can. He immediately broke back and then broke his opponent's serve not once, but twice more. The lead grew to 5-1 and he served out the match … on a deuce point no less … lifting his arms in celebration while screaming out "Our House! Our House!" since the Kentucky squad had muttered several times during the final set that they were at "their house." Guess they didn't see the sign on the door. Match Bama, Roll Tide!
Every great moment must be celebrated and this truly was one for Alexey, the team, our fans and our locker room which fell victim to plenty of water that showered all over our clinching player as he walked in after the conclusion of the match. What a night! As every great moment is celebrated, that moment soon becomes history and then time moved on. Vanderbilt, who had always been a tough opponent, was next on Sunday so we needed to recover, rest, rehydrate, refuel and prepare the mind and body for another match 36+ hours later.
We had competed against the Commodores a couple of times in fall events so we were pretty familiar with them. Historically we had long, grueling matches that seemed to suck the life out of you regardless of the score. In fact, our win over Vandy last March 8, 2020 was the final competition of our Covid-shortened season and that was a grind of a match.Â
We once again played the match outside which was a blessing since the rain came and went overnight. It allowed fans to enjoy some fresh air, sunshine and a fair amount of wind, which not only led to some sunburns, but also impacted the matches as there was clearly one side with the wind and one against the wind. The pre-match warm-up seemed to go smoothly but there was just something in the air that seemed a little off. Maybe it was energy overload from Friday night and the recharging that followed or perhaps this was another great opportunity for us to get better. In any event, doubles started with Gabi and Zhe Zhou winning handily on court 2. Patrick and Riccardo were up a break and serving for the match while Alexey and Edson were down a break with Vanderbilt attempting to close things out. Well, we didn't finish on court 1 and were forced into a tiebreaker, while we did break back on court 3 and went into a tiebreaker there too.
Back and forth the shots went along with some nervous energy from the stands, sidelines and courts. Mini breaks were made but also given back. I felt like I was at the Belmont Stakes watching the stretch run of the final jewel of the Triple Crown in horse racing.  Finally the crowd slow clapped on court 1. Patrick and Riky closed out their third consecutive tiebreaker and doubles point. Point Bama, Roll Tide!
Onto singles we marched with the same lineup from Friday's contest. Patrick quickly pushed us up 2-0 while giving up just 1 game in his two sets of work, but Vandy responded with a point of their own on court 6. After Edson clinched his second singles win of the weekend to give us a 3-1 lead, that long stretch run came back into play. The Commodores were not relenting. They were pushed against the ropes but all forced third sets in each of the remaining matches. Zhe broke his opponent at 5-5 in the third which gave him the opportunity to serve out and clinch the match … but playing against the wind. His focus and execution went to another level, however, as the team's two-time MVC (Most Valuable Competitor) delivered the knock-out blow, 7-5. Bama 4, Vandy 1. Riccardo soon finished with a 6-1 third set and Gabi squeezed by his opponent 7-5. Final score – Alabama 6, Vanderbilt 1. Match Bama, Roll Tide!
A super weekend of competition, challenge, adversity, execution and finish. We had spent the week after Florida and South Carolina with complete focus on finishing matches as we created so many opportunities in Gainesville and Columbia. The guys competed very well and the end result was a pair of well-earned victories. After a recovery day and a pair of good practices this week, our attention is now on Auburn and strengthening our ability to finish. The team has done a very good job with their training and are prepared for another battle. The Tigers are a much improved team from a season ago and have competed their tails off this spring. It promises to be a popcorn match even if our Crimson Racket Club popcorn maker won't be in operation popping corn this time around. Please join us for the match and if you can't make it to the Iron Bowl, follow us with live streaming and stats online. Whether it's our 97th meeting or our 197th, the Iron Bowl is special as well as competing against our neighbors from the loveliest village on the plains.
Roll Tide,
George
George Husack
Head Men's Tennis Coach
The University of Alabama
Players Mentioned
