The Alabama men’s tennis team dominated in a win over No. 19 Tennessee at home Sunday, 6-1, earning its first win over a top-20 team this season. The win moves Alabama to 8-13 overall and 2-10 in Southeastern Conference play.
The Crimson Tide started off the match by winning a hard-fought doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. After splitting the first two doubles matches, Ricky Doverspike and Jarryd Botha were able to defeat the No. 8 doubles team Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese in a close match, 8-5. It was the highest-ranked singles or doubles opponent the Tide has defeated all year.
“Winning a doubles point against a team like that, who hasn’t lost many double points this year, is definitely a big momentum swing for us,” Doverspike said. “We felt like once we did that, we could step on them in singles.”
And step on them they did, as the Tide carried the momentum into two quick singles wins, with freshman David Vieyra defeating Edward Jones 6-3, 6-2 and senior Michael Thompson winning 6-2, 6-0 against Bryan Swartz. Sophomore Daniil Proskura clinched the victory for the tide by defeating Brandon Fickey 6-3, 7-5. Proskura, who has won four of his last five matches, said the decisive win should give the team a lot of confidence moving forward.
“It was a really big win for us,” Proskura said. “It gives me confidence for myself and my game, and it gives the team a lot of confidence. The win means a lot for us, and it gives us a chance to get into the NCAAs.”
With a team victory for the Tide already in hand, senior Ricky Doverspike pulled out one of the gutsiest performances of the season, defeating No. 42 Mikelis Libietis, 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (10-7). Doverspike had to drop out of his match Friday against Georgia because of severe cramping in his leg and had to have his leg wrapped up for today’s game. Injuries aside, Doverspike has been spectacular as of late, winning six of his last nine singles matches. Head coach Billy Pate had high praise for Doverspike following his win.
“I was very proud for him,” Pate said. “He beat a very good player today, one of the best freshman in the country, so it was a great win for Ricky. He is probably playing our best team right now.”
Even though the Tide didn’t close out the season the way they wanted, Pate said he is happy with how the team is playing at the moment and hopes the team will continue to perform at a high level so they might have a chance at making the NCAA tournament.
“We learned a lot about ourselves this week,” Pate said. “We became a lot more confident after that win on Wednesday, and that carried over to playing well on Friday and playing well today. Hopefully we will continue to play well moving forward so we have a chance at the NCAAs.”
The Tide returns to action Wednesday to take on UAB and Samford in Birmingham.
