Alabama Upsets Mississippi State in Second Round of SEC Tournament

Thursday, April 20

Auburn, Ala.

9 a.m. CT

Alabama

Mississippi State

Alabama Upsets Mississippi State in Second Round of SEC Tournament

4/20/2023 1:20:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

The Crimson Tide advances to the quarterfinals to face third-seeded Kentucky at 9 a.m. CT on Friday

AUBURN, Ala. – The Alabama men's tennis team defeated 15th-nationally ranked and sixth seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, Mississippi State, with a 4-3 victory on Thursday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.

Alabama (12-14, 4-9 SEC) secured the opening point, posting victories from Enzo Aguiard and Zach Foster on court two and Joao Ferreira and Yair Sarouk, who took a 7-1 tiebreak win, on court three, respectively.

Mississippi State (19-7, 7-5 SEC) would win back-to-back singles matches at courts four and one, which included a tiebreaker on court one, to take a 2-1 lead. Zach Foster, court five, and Matias Ponce De Leon, court three, moved Alabama back in front at 3-2. Mississippi State would once again tie the match with a win on court two, but Yair Sarouk clinched the win for the Tide with a three-set victory on court six.

What Head Coach George Husack Said:

"Another gutsy performance as we're embracing these close matches. Tremendous poise and execution displayed in snagging the doubles point. A similar scenario took place in Tuscaloosa a few weeks ago. The message before singles began was to take back what State had taken from us and the guys responded."

"Zach [Foster] and Matias [Ponce De Leon] have matured a lot this spring as competitors, not letting the moment mix up their minds. Yair [Sarouk] has had his fair share of close matches and today he put his foot down. I'm very proud of their fight and will. Now it's time to recover, rest and repeat the effort again tomorrow."

The Match

For the 11^th time this season, Alabama had a match determined by a 4-3 decision
Enzo Aguiard and Zach Foster recorded the first win of the day, taking a 6-3 victory over Michal Novansky and Charles Hernandez on doubles court two
The Tigers evened the attempt for the doubles point, posting a 6-4 win on court one
Joao Ferreira and Yair Saoruk forced a tie on court three and cruised through the tiebreak to take a 7-6 (1) victory to give UA the first point
Mississippi State took back-to-back wins on courts four and one, respectively, to take the lead
No. 92-ranked Filip Planinsek forced a tiebreak on court one against Peter Jovanovic, but was unable to hold on, falling 6-3, 7-6 (6)
Zach Foster overcame a 6-4 first-set loss to take the match with a 6-3 and 6-1 win, respectively, in sets two and three
The Bulldogs would once again tie the match, 3-3, with a win on court two but Yair Sarouk recorded a come-from-behind victory on court six for the team win
The freshman would defeat Gregor Ramskogler 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to clinch the overall win

Up Next

The Crimson Tide will face the third-seeded Kentucky Wildcats Friday morning, April 21
First serve is set for 9 a.m. CT

Results

Doubles

1 | Ewen Lumsden/Petar Jovanovic (MS) def. Filip Planinsek/German Samofalov (UA) 6-4
2 | Enzo Aguiard/Zach Foster (UA) def. Michal Novansky/Carles Hernandez (MS) 6-3
3 | Joao Ferreira/Yair Sarouk (UA) def. Gregor Ramskogler/B. Sanchez Martinez (MS) 7-6 (7-1)

Order of finish (2, 1, 3)

Singles

1| Petar Jovanovic (MS) def. #92 Filip Planinsek (UA) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
2| #116 Carles Hernandez (MS) def. #121 Enzo Aguiard (UA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
3| Matias Ponce De Leon (UA) def. #103 Ewen Lumsden (MS) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
4| B. Sanchez Martinez (MS) def. Roan Jones (UA) 6-3, 6-2
5| Zach Foster (UA) def. Michal Novansky (MS) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
6| Yair Sarouk (UA) def. Gregor Ramskogler (MS) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Order of finish (4, 1, 5, 3, 2, 6)

Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaMTN on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaMTN on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.

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