Alabama
NCAA Championships - Doubles
Alabama Men’s Tennis Closes Season in NCAA Championships Doubles Draw
5/24/2021 6:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Patrick Kaukovalta and Riccardo Roberto fell in a tough, three-set battle
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Alabama duo of Patrick Kaukovalta and Riccardo Roberto battled Central Florida's Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel in the first round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships doubles draw, ultimately falling, 6-2, 6-7(4), 8-10, with the matching being decided by a 10-point tiebreak set.
After starting out the match tied at 2-2, Kaukovalta and Roberto went on a four-game run, winning the first set 6-2. The next set was a back-and-forth fight that came down to a 6-6 tie, with the hometown UCF tandem winning the tiebreaker 7-4. The third and deciding set was a 10-point tiebreaker. Much like the previous set, the two teams went back-and-forth, knotting the set at 8-8 before the Knights edged the Tide, 10-8.
Head Coach George Husack Said
?"Patrick and Riccardo were a solid pairing for us this year. While today's result is unfortunate these guys showed steady improvement as a new team throughout the fall and spring. They always put themselves in a position to win and that impacted our team's performances."
In addition to Kaukovalta and Roberto playing in the doubles draw, the Crimson Tide advanced to the NCAA Championships as a team, playing in the Baylor Regional earlier in the month, while Edson Ortiz played in the single draw in Orlando earlier this week.
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