2021 NET NEWS, Volume 10
4/2/2021 9:24:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Happy Senior Week,
We are back in action as we have a split weekend of matches on our schedule against the Magnolia state … Mississippi. The Bulldogs of Mississippi State travel east on Highway 82 for a Good Friday night match, while we travel to Oxford on Saturday for an Easter Sunday egg hunt and tennis match against the Rebels … or should I say Landsharks. The origin of the Landshark dates back to 2008 after the Ole Miss football team posted a 9-4 record and former Rebels linebacker Tony Fein coined the term "landshark" during that season. Fast forward to 2017 when Vice Chancellor Jeff Vitter announced that after a poll and unanimous support from campus groups, the school officially replaced Rebel the Bear with Landshark. So, a little history to kickoff this edition of Net News.
Our final regular-season rendition of Friday Night Lights starts with a special pre-match ceremony recognizing our "senior" class. Senior is in quotes because it is a special group of individuals that has reshaped our tennis program through their character, commitment and drive. It is also an especially unique "senior" class comprised of both seniors and graduate students, all who have had a hand in the progress we've made over the course of the last four years and are now prepared to pass the torch onto the next group of future Bama ballers.
In all we will recognize 10 individuals prior to the national anthem, team cheer and ultimate first serve in doubles. While 90% of our senior class are players, I'll begin with the first 10%, represented by our team manager, Abigail "Abi" Gossett. An Alabama native born in Decatur, Abi began her Crimson Tide career during her freshman year, filling the shoes of former tennis manager Ali Fridley who moved onto the University of Arkansas to earn her PhD. Many of you that attend our matches would know who Abi is simply by seeing her move swiftly and smoothly above each court coordinating our video system and equipment. She also manages the Crimson Racket Club hospitality room, assists with match day marketing and promotions, organizes pre- and post-match team meals, runs numerous errands and has been a huge asset to our program. Abi has been "all-in" with the program and taxing job from day one and has worked tirelessly and passionately throughout the past four seasons. She'll graduate with a degree in Kinesiology this May and has her sights set on graduate school. Roll Tide Abi!
Next we'll move through the collection of 9 players from newest to most veteran with nicknames included thanks to Alabama Tennis PA, Alan "Mr. C" Cunningham …
A graduate transfer who joined the Crimson Tide last fall, Vincent "Pocket Rockets" Rettke from Madison, Alabama earned an undergraduate degree in computer science from Gonzaga in addition to being a 4-year starter and ITA scholar-athlete. He is now pursuing a master's degree in digital marketing and social media following his early summer commitment to Alabama. Vinny played and defeated Zhe in a tournament last June and word spread that he was looking at a grad school/tennis combo in his home state. After a few conversations with him and members of our team, he settled on the Crimson Tide instead of that school on The Plains. Vinny has been such a delight to have in our locker room as his genuine personality and humility has had an indelible impact to his teammates and coaches, not to mention his passion for poker, Donato's pizza, Dr. Pepper and his massive forehand. You da man Vinny!
Our second graduate transfer is Gabriel "The Cowboy" Diaz Freire, who earned a degree in psychology and human resources from Clemson last summer. He then joined our program in the fall and is pursuing his master's degree in Hospitality Management. Gabi's love for Tik Tok, drop shots, playing tennis as a baseline grinder and being "fearless" has made many chuckle and also go nuts after the sliding, slicing, fist pumping and screaming of "Come On!" after several successful points. His love of competing on match day is a talent and he has been a good sport in terms of taking plenty of heat about his support of his former school's football team. That aside, he has been a pleasure to coach and get to know in such a short time. Vamos y felicidades Gabi!
Grant "Cookie" Stuckey from Charlotte, North Carolina began his Alabama career as a freshman in August 2017. The lanky southpaw hit a big serve and forehand, as well as displaying good touch around the net. He battled injuries over the past few years and got our vote for the Ironman of the team given the perseverance he showed post-surgery and on the recovery road. While Grant was not able to conclude his career on court, he has always stood by his teammates and supported them from start to finish. He will earn a Chemistry degree this May while being part of Alabama's Honors College, pursue a master's degree in Business next fall and will always be remembered for one of the best birthday pegs in program history when he surprised roommate/friend Sam Fischer with a face full of whipped cream at 6:00 a.m. on October 13, 2017. Well done Stuck!
Speaking of Sam "Straight Fire" Fischer, this senior has been the quintessential student-athlete. He has been a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for four seasons including his post this year as SAAC President. He is a 3-time, and soon-to-be 4-time, ITA Scholar-Athlete majoring in biology and also a member of UA's Honors College. Sam's commitment to community service has been very noticeable as he's been named to the SEC Community Service team multiple times while having his hands involved in a number of outreach projects. While medical school is in his future, Sam will first continue his studies at Lipscomb University where he will pursue a master's in Biomolecular Science as well as compete for the Bison under Geoff Hernandez, Sam's longtime personal coach in Nashville. We'll never forget Sam's enthusiasm, tremendous pride in being an Alabama student-athlete, his infatuation with food from Cookout and his infamous yell during our dynamic stretching … "MILL!"
Riccardo "Rise & Shine" Roberto, formerly known as "Big Train", is our Italian stallion from Padova, Italy. He joined our program in January 2018 after spending the majority of his life playing tennis on red clay. Sliding here, sliding there, slice, spin serve and plenty of "heavy" groundstrokes were the main elements of his game when he arrived in Tuscaloosa at the start of the indoor tennis portion of our season. He didn't need a double espresso to wake him up during his first week of practice as the faster pace on court resulted in several comments of 'Dio mio', 'Marone' and 'Cos' e questo'. Riky quickly learned a new style of play and has implemented it into his singles and doubles game very well during his Alabama career. He will earn a Business Marketing degree at the end of summer and then enroll in graduate school to pursue a master's in business. Forza Riky!
The 2019 ITA Southern Region Rookie of the Year, Jeremy "Romeo" Gschwendtner was a late commitment to the Alabama tennis program during the 2017 fall semester. A talented tennis player, born in London, and naturally speaking English, "Jez" was also fluent in Italian (his mum's mother tongue) and French (father Guy's first language). That came to good use in our diverse locker room and his humorous nature could always give light to serious, contentious or simply boring situations. The NCAA ruled that Jez needed to sit out of competition for his first full 12 months at Alabama due to their graduation date rules, however our three-language, competitive, comic was allowed to practice and quickly showed us how determined and focused he was on competing for the Crimson Tide … and that was no joke. He has committed countless hours of practice on court to develop his game and also push the coaches to keep working and challenging him. He's been in many pressure filled situations during the season and successfully executed time after time. He's been a 3-time ITA Scholar-Athlete majoring in Business and will finish up his degree in December after competing in this final season of eligibility. Allez et bravo Jer!
Our final three 'seniors' are actually now graduate students who returned to campus this fall after the completion of their undergraduate degrees last summer. When the pandemic canceled our season last spring, each tennis student-athlete was granted an extra year of competition by the NCAA. So our true senior class from last year – Edson "El Toro" Ortiz, Zhe "Big Z" Zhou & Alexey "The Hammer" Nesterov – became our super seniors and re-enrolled at Alabama as graduate students pursuing master's degrees in Hospitality Management (Edson & Zhe) and Finance (Alexey). A unique situation for them just like it has been for Vinny and Gabi. We were all very excited about their return and grateful for the support of our athletics department to cover the funding necessary to bring them back.
Edson began his Bama journey in January 2017 after spending several years away from his native Chihuahua, Mexico training at academies in Spain and Florida. He arrived in Tuscaloosa from the Academia Sanchez Casal in Naples, Florida, hungry for opportunity, determined for a challenge, and as a newspaper journalist once wrote, ready to 'take the bull by the horns'. It has been all business since day one for El Toro and he has been the most prepared, organized and thorough competitor that I've ever coached at Alabama. He has risen from line 5 to line 1 in singles and from line 3 to line 1 in doubles since his freshman year … a testament to his dedication, ability to learn and ultimately his delivery on gameday. In one of the first matches of his college career, he battled in a 3-set thriller with the overall match on the line. Not an easy task for a freshman, but one that Edson embraced and ultimately won. A week later at our very next match, Edson again faced a similar situation with the match on the line and a 3-set thriller on his court. Like clockwork, Edson came up big and clinched the match. What a welcome-to-college tennis moment. Aside from his tennis, he is known for his fired-up fist pumps, energetic yells, left-handed defensive shots (though he is right handed) and the ability to slide and do the splits which I'm sure would even impress Alabama gymnastics coach Dana Duckworth. When you watch El Toro you'll want to bring some popcorn as it is energetic entertainment at its best and maybe he'll even share a well-known tongue twister in English or Spanish at the end of the match. He has been named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, ITA Southern Region Most Improved Senior, a two-time All-SEC honoree, a member of the SEC Men's Tennis Community Service Team, a 4-time ITA Scholar Athlete and he earned his undergraduate degree in Human Performance Exercise Science with a 3.8 cumulative GPA. I'd say that's some career Edson … felcidades Toro!
It's pretty common to attract more than one player from the same region to your school. Perhaps players have developed a relationship because they trained together or competed against one another in tournaments. It's a bit rare, however, to receive commitments from a pair of players training in the same region (i.e. Southern California), competing in the same tournaments (though never facing each other), both having knowledge of the other, though not a personal relationship, and each having been born in different countries that happen to share a border, and yet, whose home towns are approximately 3,668 miles apart. God's plan I suppose as both Zhe and Alexey became teammates at Alabama over four years ago.
Big Z, a native of Tianjin, China, came to the United States with a tennis racket in hand and no knowledge of how to speak the English language. He trained at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and later moved to Orange County, California where he continued to train his on-court skills and ability to learn English. After our first meeting, I mentioned that his admission to The University of Alabama was highly dependent on his grades, SAT, and most importantly, his TOEFL exam score (Test Of English as a Foreign Language). Well, Zhe being Zhe, took the TOEFL multiple times until he blew it out of the water, determined to continue his education and tennis career at an American university, and more specifically, The University of Alabama. He has been named winner of both the ITA Southern Region Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship and ITA Southern Region Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship awards. He is a multi ITA Scholar-Athlete award honoree who graduated cum laude last summer with a Business degree and now finishing up a master's degree in Hospitality Management. Zhe was voted MVC (Most Valuable Competitor) by his teammates for the first two years of the award and his name is engraved on a large, silver boxing belt that hangs in our locker room. Like Edson, he too has risen up the ladder in both singles and doubles which has been a testament to his desire to learn and achieve more. He is one of the best listeners I've ever coached, and is, in my opinion, the most respected teammate of our program because of his on and off court character and class. Jiayou Z!
And our final player, and most senior of them all because of the number of total semesters in the program (10), Alexey "The Hammer" Nesterov. Originally from Moscow, Russia, Alexey trained in beautiful Ojai, California. We learned of this determined, very hard working and never-say-quit competitor that wanted to broaden his horizons and tennis game by joining a program that began with the letter 'A', had uniforms and other apparel that proudly displayed an 'A' and countless tennis balls all embossed with an 'A' logo. What a perfect fit! Truth is Alexey was looking for a university that could push him academically and athletically while also providing him with opportunities to learn, explore, accomplish and grow both as a student and athlete. We've been fortunate to have "Losh" (as he's called back home) as part of our program as this mountain of a man is also a sweet boy who has spent many, many, many hours on our courts and at the tennis facility like it's been his home away from home. Early morning workouts or late-night hits have allowed this tennis fanatic (aka gym rat) to make a significant statement to our team about commitment and gratitude. He was named a CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree in 2020 and has been a 4-time ITA Scholar Athlete. Last summer he graduated summa cum laude (as in 4.0 overall GPA) with a degree in Finance and Accounting. This year he will complete a Master of Science degree program with a concentration in Finance and his eyes are focused on a career on Wall Street. Who would have known that when Alexey's mom brought him home from the hospital after being born that it was learned at that moment in time where he'd go to college someday (as his brother greeted his baby brother while wearing an Alabama Crimson Tide jacket … and that is the crazy truth). Davai Losh!
And lastly, though he is not a senior on our team, this ultimate Alabama tennis fan will be in attendance from the heavens above on Friday, most likely cooking burgers and brats on a huge grill while sporting an ear-to-ear smile. Last Tuesday, March 23 marked the one-year anniversary of David Ford's passing which was celebrated by his wife Linda, daughter Megan, as well as several of his colleagues and friends in front of his home. A large pair of crimson and white balloons were let go into the sky along with several others signifying the everlasting love David had for his wife, children, family roots, the university which he proudly served and the numerous memories we all would never forget about this incredible husband, father, friend and great man. Roll Tide David. We miss you!
That leads us to the point of this Net News edition as we celebrate the many people that have helped make Alabama tennis what it is today. The 'senior' class has impacted many and their legacy won't be forgotten. Nor will the permanent memories they created and experienced with their teammates, coaches, support staff and fans regardless of what the scorebook read at the end of the season. It was a special moment in time when they first arrived at the University of Alabama bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and now, a unique opportunity to celebrate who they are and what they have given as students, athletes and young adults. So, join us Friday night when we host Mississippi State in our final Friday Night Lights regular-season match. The senior recognition ceremony begins at 6:00 p.m. followed by our match with the Bulldogs who we will 'teach to behave'. We thank everyone that has come out this season, and similar to our senior class, your support has been invaluable, noteworthy, special and unique. #ThatsBama
Roll Tide,
George
George Husack
Head Men's Tennis Coach
The University of Alabama
Players Mentioned
