Alabama Men’s Tennis Falls to Oregon in NCAA Championships Opening Round

Saturday, May 8

Waco, Texas

11 a.m. CT

Alabama

Oregon

2021 Men's Tennis at the NCAA Championships in Waco, Texas

Alabama Men’s Tennis Falls to Oregon in NCAA Championships Opening Round

5/8/2021 3:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

The Crimson Tide won the doubles point, while Alexey Nesterov and Jeremy Gschwendtner picked up singles wins to send the match to the final court, where Alabama came up just short

WACO, Texas – The Alabama men's tennis team battled Oregon down to last court in its first-round match at the NCAA Championships in Waco, Texas on the Baylor University campus Saturday, coming up just short in a back-and-forth contest, falling 4-3.

The Crimson Tide took an early lead after wins by Alexey Nesterov and Edson Ortiz at No 2 and Marcelo Sepulveda Garza and Zhe Zhou at No. 3 gave Alabama the doubles point. The Ducks moved ahead with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, before Jeremy Gschwendtner tied it up at 2-2 with a straight-set victory at No. 6.

Nesterov's three-set win at No. 5 put the Tide back in the lead, 3-2, before Oregon tied it up with a win at No. 4. With the contest knotted at 3-3, it came down to a very tight match at No. 1, where Ortiz battled to a 6-6 tie in the second set before falling 10-8 in the tiebreaker.

Alabama's season continues with Ortiz playing in the singles draw and Patrick Kaukovalta and Riccardo Roberto in the doubles draw of the NCAA Championships. The singles and doubles competition runs May 23-28 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

Head Coach George Husack Said

"What a match of inches. We've been in a lot of close ones this season and it shows that we're always in the game. I'm grateful for the team's effort today and all season as well as the opportunities that allowed us to train and compete all year. I thank our large senior class for their commitment, effort and drive to establish a new standard for our program moving forward. I'm proud of them and this team for making not only each other better, but also the coaches and me. They've left their mark which will impact the next group of competitors that join our program."

No. 37 Oregon 4, No. 26 Alabama 3

Singles

No. 1 Emmanuel Coste (ORE) def. #43 Edson Ortiz (UA) 7-5, 7-6(8)
No. 2 Joshua Charlton (ORE) def. #66 Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 Quinn Vandecasteele (ORE) def. #57 Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 Jesper Klov-Nilsson (ORE) def. Riccardo Roberto (UA) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
No. 5 Alexey Nesterov (UA) def. Brandon Lam (ORE) 6-2, 1-6, 6-1
No. 6 Jeremy Gschwendtner (UA) def. Luke Vandecasteele (ORE) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1 #50 Joshua Charlton/Quinn Vandecasteele (ORE) def. #23 Patrick Kaukovalta/Riccardo Roberto (UA) 6-4
No. 2 Alexey Nesterov/Edson Ortiz (UA) def. Emmanuel Coste/Jesper Klov-Nilsson (ORE) 6-3
No. 3 Marcelo Sepulveda/Zhe Zhou (UA) def. Brandon Lam/Ryoma Matsushita (ORE) 7-5

Alabama at the NCAA Championships

This weekend marked the Crimson Tide's third trip in a row to the NCAA Championships, after qualifying in 2018 and 2019
There was no NCAA tourney in 2020 due to the COVID19 pandemic
This season marked Alabama's 20th NCAA Championships team appearance, fourth under head coach George Husack and fifth since 2010

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