Alabama
Ohio State
No. 21 Alabama Faces No. 1 Ohio State in Opening Round of ITA National Indoor Championships
2/15/2024 11:54:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The Crimson Tide earned a spot at the indoor national championship for the first time since 2010 after winning its ITA Kickoff Weekend regional tournament
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. –– No. 21 Alabama men's tennis (7-2) will compete as one of just 16 teams at the ITA National Indoor Championships as the Crimson Tide opens competition against top-ranked Ohio State (9-0) on Friday. First serve between the Tide and the Buckeyes is slated for 2:30 p.m. CT at Columbia's Philip & Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center in New York.
Alabama is making its first appearance at the indoor national championship since 2010 after emerging as the champion of the Kentucky regional. UA enters on a seven-game winning streak and has not lost a match since its second competition of the season.
Vs. Ohio State
- Date: Friday, Feb. 16
- Time 2:30 p.m. CT
- Location: New York, N.Y.
- Venue: Columbia's Philip & Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center
- Watch
- Live Scoring
About the Tournament
- The ITA Indoor National Championships will begin Friday, Feb. 16, and will conclude Monday, Feb. 19, with a champion
- In addition to its first-round opponent, No. 1 Ohio State, Alabama will battle No. 2 TCU, No. 3 Texas. No. 4 South Carolina, No. 5 Southern California, No. 6 Virginia, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Harvard, No. 9 Wake Forest, No. 10 and host school Columbia, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 13 Michigan, No. 14 Arizonia, No. 15 Duke and No. 20 Arizona State for the title
- Teams were selected for the national competition after winning their respective ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament
- The top-15 teams from the 2022-23 final ITA Division I National Rankings received an invite to host three other programs for the ITA Kickoff Weekend
- Each site had one winner advance from the two-round event
- Those 15 winners automatically qualified, alongside the tournament host, for the ITA National Championships
Match Notes
- UA enters the weekend ranked No. 21 nationally, while three singles players hold national rankings with Filip Planinsek ranking 53rd, Enzo Aguiard ranking 74th and Matias Ponce De Leon ranking 115th
- Planinsek and doubles partner Andrii Zimnokh pace the Tide in paired play holding the No. 45 spot nationally
- Alabama advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the first time since 2010 after winning its ITA Kickoff Weekend regional
- UA defeated Nebraska, 4-2, and then-No. 10 Kentucky, 4-2, at the regional competition to earn its spot alongside the top ranked teams in the country
- The Tide is currently on a seven-match winning streak and is recently coming off a 6-1 victory against Wisconsin in its last outing
- Alabama and Ohio State will meet for the eighth time in series history as the Buckeyes captured a narrow, 4-3, victory in the last meeting in 2005 to secure a 4-3 series advantage
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– UA –
Players Mentioned
