Alabama’s men’s tennis team is on fire, coming off an impressive performance at the Crimson Tide Fall Championships. The Tide collected seven wins during day one, six of which were in singles competitions.  Alabama’s day one singles winners included Jarryd Botha, Daniil Proskura, Carlos Taborga, Michael Thompson, Stuart Kenyon and Harris Barnard. The Tide’s only doubles victory on day one came from the Harris Barnard/Stuart Kenyon pairing, who beat Furman’s Nate Collins and Tyler Droll.

The men had a breakout day during the second day of competition. The Tide collected 20 wins, 12 of which were in singles competition.  Alabama’s Thompson, Taborga, Proskura, Vikram Reddy and Rens van der Vis each had two victories. Kenyon and Barnard each added another victory to the already impressive performance on day two.

One of the many high points of the day, however, was the Tide sweeping all eight of the doubles matches. Coach Billy Pate acknowledged that even though they will face tougher competition moving forward, he was still happy with the overall performance.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Pate said. “We had a lot of bright spots, including sophomores Carlos Taborga and Daniil Proskura.”

The Tide finished the competition with four wins on the final day of competition. Alabama collected three of those wins in doubles. Senior Vikram Reddy tallied Alabama’s sole singles win during the final day of the competition. Despite a good performance overall by the Tide, Pate still believed there were some things that could have gone better.

“We still left a few wins out there,” Pate said.

With the Fall Championships over, the Tide now looks forward to their next match in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships. This competition will take place Nov. 3 through 6in Flushing, NY. Some teams being represented in this match include Duke, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Pepperdine and the University of Southern California, the reigning national champion. Pate said there are three keys to success heading into their upcoming matches.

“The first would have to be mental toughness,” Pate said. “We need to be able to keep our composure.”

Pate said he believed the second key to success would be being able to start the day with energy and keeping their focus, as well. He said the last key would be up to the athletes.

“They need to focus on controlling the things they can control,” Pate said.