The No. 31-ranked men’s tennis team brought home two wins this weekend. The team now has a 5-1 record after posting a 6-1 victory over SMU (2-2) and defeating TCU (2-2) 4-3.
“We had two very good wins this weekend,” head coach Billy Pate said. “It was precisely what we needed. They were two teams — TCU and SMU — pretty equal in ability, so we were probably slightly favored, but we felt like we should be successful if we did the right things and I thought we did. It ended up being a very productive weekend for us and the weather was really good.”
Even though the Crimson Tide was ranked far above No. 52 TCU and unranked SMU, playing in the matches helped prepare Alabama for the rest of the season.
“I think we gained the confidence from these matches, especially in doubles where we’ve been struggling a bit,” sophomore Jarryd Botha said. “Also, just to get a few good matches behind us is a good build up towards the stronger matches in the SEC. We were under quite a lot of pressure just to start off well and to play our best, and I think we really rose to the occasion and took them to it and played really well. That’s why I think we won.”
The Tide won all three of its doubles games and five of its six singles games against SMU. Even though Alabama played well in doubles competition this weekend, Botha said that is an area the team still needs improvement in.
“We’ve got to improve doubles,” Pate said. “We haven’t really found all three combinations. We’re going to continue to look at that and work on it in practice. We’re set with our one and two teams. I’ve been very pleased with the top half of our lineup — Ricky’s been playing No. 1 and was 5-0 before this match and Jared hasn’t lost in two — they’ve been very successful. That was one of our concerns coming in.”
During Alabama’s visit to the Dallas Metroplex for its two matches over the weekend, the team was also given an opportunity to visit Cowboys Stadium, where Super Bowl XLV was recently played. While they were touring the world’s largest stadium, some of the Tide’s players were even day dreaming about playing a match or two in Jerry’s World someday.
“It was fun,” Botha said. “It was great to see how big it was and what all the fuss was about. It’s a very known organization and it was good to see what it was all about. I would love to play in that stadium.”
Alabama’s next matchup will be in the Blue Gray National Classic tournament in Montgomery on the weekend of Feb. 25.
“The Blue Gray Tournament is a real prestigious and national event,” Pate said. “There’s eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams. We expect a good match. They’re all going to be highly-ranked teams.”
