Net News, Volume 7
2/27/2025 7:42:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Hello from the Capstone!
We are grateful to be back at home after a tough weekend on the road. We didn't run into an angry Neal Page…Steve Martin's name in the movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles…however, we did learn that flying these days is not as enjoyable nor as easy as back in the day. Maybe I'm aging myself but there seems to be more delays and cancelations than ever before, and we got bit by a few of them. Â
Following a four-hour delay out of Birmingham, we ultimately landed in the Queen City (Charlotte, N.C.), drove to Columbia, S.C., and began our practice after sunset. The goal was to hit outdoors during a similar time as our match the next day but that was out of our control. The Gamecock facility is impressive. Twelve courts with a pair of large scoreboards and a slower surface than what we are used to play on. Be that as it may, we had a solid hit and continued to prepare for our SEC opener the following day.
Our pair of matches were on a Saturday-Monday schedule which was a first. The adjustment was made just for this year as it gave teams competing in the ITA National Indoors an extra day to travel and rest. We began our match on Saturday with a tight doubles point that came down to the No. 1 position. Filip (Planinsek) and Matic (Kriznik) were in a tug-of-war but got broken at 4-4 and South Carolina went ahead 1-0.
In singles play, Filip continued his stellar spring season with a straight set win at No. 1 to even the score at 1-1. After Matias (Ponce De Leon) dropped his match at No. 3 to push the black and garnet up 2-1, the match would come down to three-set contests for Damien (Nezar), Andrii (Zimnokh), Roan (Jones) and Matic. Unlike at Florida State, we came out on the short end in a pair of matches at No. 2 and No. 4 to give the home team the victory 4-1. I took responsibility for not getting the team better prepared for the different surface not to mention some potential travel delays. Our guys didn't compete at the level they had shown in previous matches, so lessons learned and time to move on. We drove five hours to Gainesville (Florida) that night and arrived just short of midnight at the Swamp.
Sunday's practice was great. Outdoors, warm weather, no breeze and clean air. Perfect tennis conditions at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. We ended our afternoon hit indoors, however, as the forecast called for a day of rain which also wasn't typical.
By 8 a.m. Monday morning, the Gator match was officially moved to the Perry Indoor Tennis Facility as it was raining steadily, and the forecast did not call for it to stop. We had played indoors here in the past, so the adjustment wasn't that big of a deal. The main difference, however, was that we would only play on three courts (Florida doesn't have six) so momentum could be a big factor throughout the day.
An exciting doubles point was contested with Filip and Matic taking down the Gators' top duo. After the home team won on court three, the deciding match came down to Damien and Andrii. The match went back-and-forth as each team held serve rather easily. A tiebreaker would determine the opening team point. Our team went down a mini-break, 2-4, but battled back. After a screaming forehand winner by Damien at 6-6, our South African senior served it out with an unreturnable serve into the body of his Gator opponent. Point Bama!
Filip, Roan and Mati kicked off the singles action. Our NCAA singles champion avenged a loss from last year to Florida's Jeremy Jin with a straight set win to push us to 2-0. Florida responded with tight wins at No. 2 and No. 3 to even the score. Matic cruised to an efficient win at No. 5 to push the score to 3-2 but the blue and orange came right back with a win on No. 6. Score tied 3-3.
Andrii was in a wrestling match finding a way to return the huge serving prowess of his opponent and pushed his contest to a third set. He had several break-point opportunities throughout the set while his teammates cheered loud and proud. At 4-4, our sophomore from Kharkiv, Ukraine, had a 40-15 lead and faced a second serve. The Gator reared back and hit an impressive slice ace out wide, followed by a flat, out-wide service winner at 30-40. At deuce, another big first serve came but clipped the net and dribbled over for an ace. The momentum shifted from one side to the other instantly. At 4-5, Andrii faced a deuce point, played aggressively and transitioned forward to finish off the point with a volley. He stretched, struck the ball and it didn't quite make it over the net. Game, set, match Florida. Rats!
Tough one to lose but Andrii gave us a shot and competed his tail off. Few words to say after other than "tough match" and "thanks for your fight." At that time of day, we were going to miss our flight home from Gainesville, so phone calls and texts were made to find out alternative plans. The team purchased new tickets that took us to Charlotte again and we would continue to Birmingham Shuttlesworth Airport. We left on time out of Gainesville and were very hungry as we didn't have time to get food after the match. As we landed back in the Queen City, we found out our flight home was canceled. So more alternative arrangements were made with rental cars, hotel rooms and flights the next morning. We didn't need to jump in the back of a truck along with Gus Polinski and the Kenosha Kickers Polka band (Home Alone movie reference) but we did overnight near the airport and returned to Tuscaloosa very early Tuesday morning.
Now we are back at home and face the Dawgs of Georgia and Commodores of Vanderbilt this weekend. What happened last weekend is in the past and it's time to move onto the next chapter in our SEC season. We will have FREE pizza for all fans Friday under the lights at 6 p.m. and Sunday under the sun at 1 p.m. Our team keeps learning and improving. We're excited to see all of you and get back after it. Bring your blankets Friday and your sunscreen Sunday as well as a loud voice. As Andrii would say/yell…"HERE WE GO!"
Roll Tide,
GeorgeÂ
