Alabama men’s tennis began its second week of matches with a 1-6 loss to Northwestern on Friday night. The Crimson Tide then split its in-state doubleheader on Sunday, losing 3-4 to Samford before getting back in the win column with a 4-0 thrashing of Alabama State.
Coming off a winless appearance at ITA Kickoff Weekend, Alabama was looking for a fast start in its match against Northwestern. After a 3-6 loss at No. 2 doubles, junior Andrii Zimnokh and freshman Yoshka Sborowsky picked up a comfortable 6-2 win to force a decider.
No. 1 doubles—sophomore Matic Kriznik and freshman Vit Kalina—traded service holds with Northwestern for much of the match. While on serve at 5-6, an untimely double fault by Kriznic surrendered the doubles point to the Wildcats.
The team was unable to find any momentum in singles play, winning just one out of six matches. Zimnokh shone as the lone bright spot for the Crimson Tide, going undefeated on the day after a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win at No. 1 singles over Northwestern’s Carter Pate. Senior Carlos Gimenez Perez (6-4, 5-7, 7-10) was the only other Alabama player to not lose in straight sets.
Two days later, the team took on Samford in its first match of a Sunday doubleheader. In similar fashion to the Northwestern match, Samford clinched the doubles point in a deciding 7-6 (5) win at No. 3 doubles over Zimnokh and Sborowsky.
Zimnokh promptly got Alabama on the board in a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory at singles. After splitting the next four singles courts 2-2, the match came down to Kalina’s effort against Samford’s Sebastian Harrison at No. 3 singles.
Kalina battled back from a set down to force a decider, but a 6-8 loss in the third set tiebreaker secured the overall win for the Bulldogs.
Later that afternoon, Alabama—motivated to avoid a fifth consecutive loss—swept Alabama State in a 4-0 rout.
The Crimson Tide struck quickly at No. 2 doubles as Zimnokh and Sborowsky overcame a controversial line call on their first match point to win 6-4. After surrendering a late break of serve and an early 4-2 lead, Kalina and Kriznik held on to win in a tiebreaker and clinch the doubles point.
Capitalizing on an early 1-0 advantage, Alabama picked up three decisive straight-set wins at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 5 singles to close the match. Zimnokh (6-1, 6-0) and Sborowsky (6-1, 6-3) made quick work of their opponents to go undefeated against the Hornets.
Kriznik’s outing was dominant as he cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory, winning the first 12 points of the match while continually attacking the one-handed backhand of ASU’s Martin Catrice with his powerful lefty forehand.
Now sitting at a mediocre 3-4 overall record, Alabama will look to carry over the momentum from Sunday evening to its first true road match against Memphis. The match is set for Friday at 5 p.m. CT.
