This past weekend, the Alabama men’s tennis team traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to compete in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, a three-day tournament in which the SEC dominated by winning 34 of 46 matches.
At the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Oklahoma, home of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the tournament featured three teams from each conference. The teams representing the SEC included Alabama, Tennessee and Texas A&M, and the Big 12 had Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Each day started with doubles matches followed by four competitors from each school competing in singles matches.
Coming into the Big 12/SEC Challenge after a strong start a week prior at its first tournament of the year, the Crimson Tide will have fresh faces on the court. Staring their season for the Crimson Tide are junior Enzo Aguiard, junior Zach Foster, and sophomore Roan Jones. Making his second appearance this season is sophomore Matias Ponce De Leon, who had an overall record of 4-2 last week. The doubles teams that competed this week were Jones/Ponce De Leon and Aguiard/Foster.
Friday
Opening day, the Crimson Tide got off to a hot start, going 4-2 total on the day after a 1-1 doubles record, then 3-1 in singles. Going undefeated on the day, Jones and Ponce De Leon started by fighting back after losing the first set to win their doubles match against Baylor’s Louis Bowden and Marko Miladinovic and then both won their respective singles matches against Oklahoma State. The second doubles match of the day did not go in favor of the Crimson Tide as Aguiard and Foster lost to Baylor’s Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Martin Breysach. Later in the day, Foster beat Oklahoma State’s Alessio Basile, and his doubles teammate Aguiard lost to Oklahoma State’s Alex Garcia.
Saturday
The second day of play proved to be a good day for the doubles teams for the Crimson Tide as both Jones/Ponce De Leon and Aguiard/Foster beat their perspective teams from Texas Tech. As the day progressed, the Crimson Tide ended up losing all its singles matches to Baylor, with Foster retiring the match early. Alabama ended the second day going 2-0 in doubles and 0-4 in singles with an overall record of 2-4.
Sunday
The Crimson Tide bounced back on the final day after both Jones/Ponce De Leon and Aguiard/Foster beat Oklahoma State in doubles play, going 2-0. After retiring from his singles match Saturday, Foster did not compete in singles Sunday. For the last round of singles play for the Crimson Tide, both Jones and Ponce De Leon would go on to beat Texas Tech, leaving Aguiard to take the first loss of the day for the Crimson Tide, ending the day going 2-1 in singles play.
At the end of the tournament, the Crimson Tide had an overall record of 10-7 and had impressive doubles play, going 5-1. At 10-7, the Crimson Tide had the most losses out of the SEC teams, with Texas A&M finishing 15-3 and Tennessee ending 9-2. Over in the Big 12, Baylor finished with the best record after going 8-8, and both Oklahoma State and Texas Tech went 2-13.
The Crimson Tide will return home and host the annual Four-In-The-Fall tournament, another three-day tournament with the same daily layout as the Big 12/SEC Challenge. The Four-In-The-Fall will start Friday and run through Sunday. This tournament will feature a new rotation of players for the Crimson Tide, except for Foster and Jones, who will be a doubles team.
