After losing their first two SEC matches, the Alabama men’s tennis team looks to bounce back strong this Friday in their SEC home opener against the No. 17 LSU Tigers.
A rain delay Friday forced the Crimson Tide to play back-to-back games last weekend, where they fell 5-1 to Mississippi State and 6-1 to Ole Miss. Head coach Billy Pate said it will be important to come back strong and defend their home turf. “We threw a lot at State, emotionally and physically, and we didn’t have as much left against Ole Miss” Pate said. “This weekend, we need to defend our home turf. The guys feel like these are winnable matches, and it’s just important to keep things in perspective and bounce back.”
Against LSU, Pate said it is crucial for the Tide to play well from start to finish and make fewer simple mistakes.
“We need to play a complete match, and that is probably the biggest thing, from start to finish,” Pate said. “Play a complete match with poise and good energy, use the home crowd, not make silly mistakes and not stand in our own way.”
Pate said he believes starting off strong in the doubles match will help set the tone early against LSU.
“You play for an hour, maybe more, for one point, but that one point is huge and is a wild momentum swing,” Pate said. “If you win it, you feel a lot better, and if you lose it, you kind of get your back into a wall, and you have to really come out fighting and take a few more chances.”
After a close loss against LSU last year, Pate said he is looking forward to settling the score this year at home.
“We had a couple matches with them that were battles last year, and we feel like we kind of blew one in Baton Rouge, so we would like to return the favor,” Pate said. “We feel like it should be a really close match, and it’s about who is going to play well, but it’s going to be good to have that fan support and the crowd.”
This sentiment is not lost on the players. Senior Ricky Doverspike said the team cannot wait to avenge last year’s loss.
“Last year was such a devastating loss and such a close match,” Doverspike said. “It came down to a couple really close points, and everyone still has that lingering in their heads, so everyone is fired up. LSU is really highly ranked right now, so we can jump on them, and that will boost our ranking up as well, so this is a perfect time to play them. We don’t see them as necessarily overrated, but we know we have the tools to beat them.”
