The Alabama men’s tennis team will finish its regular season this weekend as it travels to face the Tennessee Volunteers and the Georgia Bulldogs.
The Crimson Tide is currently on a five-match losing streak, its last win dating back to March 16 against Auburn.
In its last match, Alabama was defeated by the Texas A&M Aggies 4-1. The Tide won the doubles point and led Texas A&M 1-0, but that’s all Alabama could do as the Aggies won four singles matches to clinch the victory.
“We have been struggling a little lately,” junior Daniil Proskura said. “We have played some really good teams; we had guys play well and some played bad, but overall to improve our success we have to play well on every court.”
Despite the recent struggles for the Tide, head coach George Husack said the team is feeling confident heading into the final weekend of play.
“We have really accomplished a lot this season and there is more to accomplish,” Husack said.
The game plan for Alabama this weekend against Tennessee and Georgia is simple.
“We need to be loose and just play,” Husack said. “Over the last few weeks we have been more focused on what we needed to improve upon versus what had been successful for us.”
Proskura said having a good week of practice and preparing well are big factors for the Tide.
“All we can do is have a positive week of practice; we play outdoors, which is good for us,” Proskura said. “We are going to continue to try and improve on our game, and then come out strong.”
Winning on the road is never an easy task; the Tide heads into the Tennessee match with a 2-4 record on the road this year.
“Tennessee and Georgia are both really good teams,” Proskura said. “The environment is really tough to play against, especially with the crowd; we were successful against those teams last year and we are going to give it our best this weekend.”
Winning both matches and ending the losing streak would be huge for Alabama.
“Two wins would completely jack up our momentum, it would be fantastic,” Husack said. “Both teams are there, we can play and compete with teams and I thinking beating both Tennessee and Georgia would be phenomenal for our program.”
