It has been a long summer for the Alabama men’s tennis team. After stops at Florida State, Lagoon Park in Montgomery and the University of Georgia, Alabama could not wait to have the home court advantage for the final stop of the summer circuit, the ITA National Summer Championship.
The Crimson Tide held seven of the 64 competing spots, with all advancing to at least the second round. However, advancing much further than round two were Alabama juniors Michael Thompson and Vikram Reddy.
The two played in the finals match against each other. Although Thompson claimed the title with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Reddy, Reddy’s road to the finals was much more grueling than Thompson’s.
After encountering a bye his opening round, Thompson continued to ease his way to the championship title.
“I have been lucky enough to play in a lot of tournaments all over the world,” he said. “I have won championships in Europe, Africa and North America.”
He defeated each of his opponents in just two sets and entered the finals with a walkover. Thompson’s first match was victorious as he defeated Alex Calott of Charlotte, 6-3, 6-2 in the Round of 32.
Thompson then made way to the quarterfinals after quickly ending Wofford’s Joey Francis’s dreams of the finals with a 6-0, 6-2 win. In the quarterfinals, Thompson won 6-1, 6-2 over Georgia College player Mario Cardenas. His finals debut was earned by a walkover in his match against Gabriel Townes of Atlanta.
The championship was just a match away against his teammate, Vikram Reddy, where he won in two sets.
“I was looking forward to playing him because he has just transferred to Alabama,” Thompson said. “We are all glad to have him here. He’s a great guy and I’m sure that he is going be great for us over the next two years.”
Like his teammate, Reddy received a bye in the opening round. However, in the Round of 32, Reddy had to battle his way through to the next round. Reddy looked promising after winning the first set by 6-2 against Derrick Taylor of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
However, Taylor came back with a win of 6-4. The last and final set of this tense match was nearly won by Taylor, but the Tide junior came back late in the match and won 11-9.
Reddy seemed to find his rhythm in the Round of 16 with a big win, 6-2, 6-0, over David Henry of Memphis.
However, his slump seemed to return in the quarterfinal against Zac Rigsby of Clemson. Reddy won the first set 6-1, while Rigsby took the second set 7-6(5).
A tired Reddy advanced by finally winning the tiebreaker 10-4. Reddy played only one set in the semifinal, which he won, against Georgia Tech’s Elliot Potvin before Potvin retired due to injury. His only loss in the tournament was against Thompson in the final.
Although his teammates’ performances were shaky, Thompson remains positive for next season.
“Hopefully a team national title is next,” he said.
All of the Alabama men’s doubles teams advanced to the quarterfinals with just Men’s Open Singles Runner-Up Reddy and Carlos Taborga advancing to the finals. Harris Barnard and Thomspon lost 8-6 in the quarterfinal against Georgia Tech duo, Potvin and Ryan Smith. Tide players Alexander Teppert and Creighton Blanchard were also defeated 8-6 in the quarterfinal by David Henry and Jordan Smith of Memphis. The Memphis duo, Henry and Smith, went on to win the Men’s Open Doubles Championship by a walkover due to injury by Alabama’s pair, Reddy and Taborga.
