Hello from Tuscaloosa,
Back on the road and this time in Starkville to kick off the second weekend of conference play. We had an action packed opening night at our outdoor facility last Friday against Ole Miss. What tremendous energy, excitement and effort put forth by the guys from start to finish. SEC matches are a treat and so too are Crimson Racket Club cookouts. Our booster group purchased a new, sparkly portable grill over the summer, and the hardware did not disappoint in its season debut. Burgers, hot dogs and even grilled tilapia served hot by chief grillmaster and CRC treasurer, David Ford. Special thanks to Butch and Michael Barnes who manned the potato chip, drink and condiment bar which was visited on regularity right up until the first serve was struck.
The Crimson Tide was quick out of the gates against the Rebels and seemed well on its way to winning the doubles point. Mazen Osama and Spencer Richey captured their match on court 1 beating ITA Southern Regional Champions Fabian Fallert and Grey Hamilton. Thibault Cancel and Zhe Zhou on court 3 were serving for the match at 5-4, while Alexey Nesterov and Edson Ortiz did the same on court 2. Ole Miss made shot after shot and made things a lot closer than the home crowd assumed. Following a couple service breaks on both remaining courts, each match was decided in tiebreakers with the visiting team winning both and jumping out to a 1-0 lead.
Singles began as the sun went down and ended as the moon shined bright over the courts. Mazen beat 17th-ranked Gustav Hansson and Thibault beat 111th-ranked Tim Sandkaulen for a second time in a row. This was Thibault and Tim’s third standoff and our French freshman prevailed. Edson closed out the night with an impressive win at #3 singles defeating his opponent in three sets.
Sunday welcomed the Razorbacks back to Tuscaloosa coached by former Kentucky All-American Andy Jackson. Coach Glen Fanelli, who is from Pewee Valley, Kentucky, shared a few pre-match stories with Andy, who is from Frankfurt, Kentucky. The two, in fact, competed in a couple of men’s open tournaments back in the day, but that was before Glen used his beast of a racket, the Prince Thunderstick. Doubles kicked off after a great national anthem by a group of local elementary kids. The clouds had produced some sprinkles during the pre-match warm-up (similar to last season vs. Arkansas) but ultimately coins were flipped outdoors and things got underway. The Razorbacks jumped out in front early with a win a No. 2 doubles, and the Tide equalized with a win by Thibault Cancel and Zhe Zhou at No. 3. The attention focused to court No. 1 and the Osama/Richey combo. Both teams traded breaks throughout the set and at 5-6, Arkansas put together a string of points to snag the early 1-0 lead.
The guys regrouped in the locker room and headed back out on court. The momentum had shifted in Bama’s favor early as many first sets had the Tide out in front. Points and games were won through plenty of sweat, hard work and determination. Really entertaining and good tennis throughout the facility. Following a couple of narrow defeats here and there, Arkansas was able to pull ahead for good, though freshmen Zhe Zhou and Edson Ortiz snagged impressive 3-set wins on their courts.
So, the effort and will to win was there as it has been all season. I know the guys were disappointed with the end result, but there was so much good to take away from the match. We are battling and gaining such valuable competitive experience that will continue to help us in the weeks ahead. The message post-match was to keep pumping that well. While you can never see water coming up the pipe or know when it will produce water, we must prime that well and know it will burst at any moment. There’s no other way.
This week finds us in Starkville or Starkvegas as some call it. We have a rare Thursday afternoon match at 3 p.m. against Mississippi State. Live scoring and video will be available for this event. We then head back to campus and will drive onward to Auburn for a Saturday Iron Bowl versus the Tigers. Live scoring and video will also be available for this match.
So prime that pump with us as the process promises to be a thrilling one.
Roll Tide,
George