Freshman Becker O’Shaughnessey came up big for the Crimson Tide men’s tennis team, outlasting sophomore Lukas Ollert to clinch Alabama’s 4-3 victory over Auburn on Saturday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. With the win, the Tide improves to 12-5 overall and 3-2 in the Southeastern Conference while the loss drops the Tigers to 10-5 on the season and 2-3 versus league foes.
Alabama began the day with a strong performance in doubles where the Tide’s No. 2 and No. 3 teams beat their Auburn counterparts to take the first point of the match. Junior Daniil Proskura and O’Shaughnessey picked up a late break to beat out Tiger senior Lucas Lopasso and junior Dennis Lengsfeld, 8-6. Sophomores Stuart Kenyon and Philippe Tsangarides secured the doubles point moments later, beating out freshman Joseph Van Dooren and Ollert, 8-4, on court three.
The Tigers evened the score at 1-1 when senior Andreas Mies held on to beat Tide senior Jarryd Botha, 6-4, 6-3, on court one in singles. From there, Alabama won two straight singles contests as Kenyon cruised past Van Dooren on court six, 6-4, 6-3, while Proskura downed junior Daniel Cochrane, 6-3, 6-3, on court two. Auburn would then win the matches on courts four and five, setting up for the clincher to come on court three. O’Shaughnessey edged out Ollert to take the first set, 7-6,(3), but Ollert would bounce back to even the match and one set all with a 6-4 win in the second. O’Shaughnessey, however, came out blazing in the final set with a dominant 6-1 decision to take the match.
Alabama returns home next weekend for a pair of SEC matchups as it is slated to host Florida and South Carolina. Friday’s match against the Gators will begin at 3 p.m. CT while Sunday’s contest with the Gamecocks will start at 1 p.m. CT.
Leading in today’s Crimson White:
Tide falls to No. 1 seed Florida in semifinal round of SEC Tournament
Alabama offense takes the field for the first time during spring practice
Alabama football team experiments with position changes on defense
