Scheduling for the men’s tennis team was not very advantageous for the Crimson Tide, to say the least. Alabama opened up Southeastern Conference play against Georgia and Tennessee, the two best teams in the SEC. The strength of the competition showed, as the Tide dropped both matches, falling 6-1 to the Volunteers and 7-0 to the Bulldogs.
On March 4, the Tide went to Knoxville to face the Volunteers, who ranked No. 2 in the nation. Estonian freshman Daniil Proskura got the Tide’s only point of the day, beating No. 41 singles player senior Matteo Fago.
“It was good that I won my match,” Proskura said. “But overall of course we’re disappointed. We didn’t use the opportunities we had well.”
Though the final score does not indicate such, the Tide felt as if it had chances to win some individual matches throughout the weekend.
“We had a chance to win singles versus Tennessee,” head coach Billy Pate said. “We were pleased with the fight and effort we displayed. In matches as close as we had, they can be decided by just a handful of points. We just did not play the key points well.”
Pressure opportunities were a big part of the Tide’s tough weekend, but there were other areas of concern as well.
“Doubles play has always been a concern for us,” Pate said. “We did not play that great in doubles against Tennessee, but the effort was improved against Georgia.”
The overall skill level of last weekend’s competition surely was a big contributor to the Tide’s struggle as well. Both teams are ranked in the top 15 nationally, with Georgia ranked No. 13.
“This year’s Tennessee team is probably the best team they’ve ever had,” Pate said. “They’re likely to win the national championship this year.”
The losses against tough competition didn’t shake Proskura and the rest of the Tide from its confidence. After all, the Tide is ranked No. 29 in the nation.
“[Georgia] is better than us right now, but they’re not good enough to beat us 7-0,” Proskura said. “If we’re all playing good, we can beat anyone in the country. We should’ve won both of those matches.”
Looking forward in Alabama’s SEC schedule, the Tide has two home matches this weekend, starting on Friday against Florida.
“Florida is a top-10 caliber team,” Pate said. “But we definitely have a good chance to beat them. Being at home will help.”
Proskura said he is dialed into making sure the Tide avoids losing any more matches this weekend.
“We’re just going to focus more in practice, get our confidence back,” Proskura said.
Even if Alabama was not looking for its first SEC win of the year, this would still be a very important weekend in the grand scheme of SEC tennis.
“This is a very crucial weekend for us,” Pate said. “This weekend could give us a lot of momentum, if we do well.”
After playing Florida on Friday, the Tide continues competition against South Carolina on Sunday at Alabama’s Tennis Stadium.
