In its final matches of the regular season, the No. 33 Alabama men’s tennis team will take the court at the Alabama Tennis Stadium this weekend, facing No. 9 Georgia Friday at 5 p.m. and No. 21 Tennessee Sunday at 1 p.m.
Both Tennessee and Georgia have finished their respective home seasons, with Tennessee currently sitting at 4-6 in the SEC and Georgia boasting a 9-1 SEC record.
“Both are very good teams,” said Alabama coach George Husack. “They’re very strong opponents in the SEC, so I expect their best for this last weekend.”
This final regular season weekend in Tuscaloosa will be the last of his career for captain Daniil Proskura, the lone Crimson Tide senior.
“It’s sad,” Proskura said. “It was a quick four seasons for me. I feel like time has gone by so fast, but I’m really excited for this last weekend to play Georgia and Tennessee, some of the best tennis schools in the SEC.”
Proskura also said that looking back, big wins this senior season, most notably victories over Kentucky and Vanderbilt, showed that the young team is full of potential and capable of competing with top caliber teams.
(See also “Men’s tennis to use momentum against Aggies“)
“This season showed that everything is possible,” Proskura said. “If we were a little more solid, or sometimes a little more lucky, we could be in the top of the SEC this year. It’s important to believe in yourself, believe in the tennis you play, and compete for every point.”
Following its final home weekend, the Crimson Tide will enter the SEC Championship tournament hosted at Vanderbilt. Seeds 12 and 13 will serve up the first match of the tournament April 16, with the first full day of matches to follow April 17. Seeding for the tournament will be assigned based off of SEC records.
Coach Husack said the team hopes to compete each day of the tournament throughout finals, and, to do so, fitness is a top priority.
“In terms of preparation, we want to be fit, because we have to play matches back to back,” Husack said. “It’s four days of matches. Secondly, we want to peak and get better with each match in the tournament.”
(See also “Alabama men’s tennis faces series of away matches“)
In previous action, Alabama lost a road match against Texas A&M 4-0 on April 4, dropping the Crimson Tide to 4-6 in the SEC.
Although Texas A&M secured the doubles point to open the match with Aggie wins on courts two and three, Alabama came away with an impressive upset victory on court one. The No. 22-ranked doubles pair Proskura and sophomore Becker O’Shaughnessey defeated A&M doubles pair Jackson Withrow and Junior Ore, who ranked second in the nation at the time, 8-7(6).
Proskura said that to him, the match wasn’t as much of an upset as it was made out to be, as he and O’Shaughnessey have the potential to be one of the top teams in the nation, as well.
“It’s all numbers,” Proskura said. “I feel like we can be one of the best teams in the nation. Sometimes it’s luck; sometimes we’re better in that important point. It was a great win and gives us a lot of confidence, but I wouldn’t say it was a complete upset.”
(See also “Men’s tennis team suffers loss to Trojans“)
