BLUE-GRAY TENNIS: Ole Miss, Wake Forest win tourney
Alabama’s womens tennis team celebrate during Blue-Gray tourney at Lagoon Park. (By Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
More than an hour after every other team and virtually every fan had departed the Lagoon Park Tennis Center, two warriors stood on opposite ends of a court and battled in front of their teammates for the championship of the 72nd Blue-Gray Tennis Classic.
On a Saturday night when temperatures were hovering at 40 degrees, two players in shorts and representing their respective schools staged a memorable three-set battle that few were around to witness.
Ole Miss freshman Nikola Slavic of Stockholm dropped the first set 7-5, battled back from elimination to win the second set 7-6, then defeated Alabama senior Alexey Nesterov of Moscow 6-4 to touch off a wild celebration on Slavic’s end of the court as the 20th-ranked Rebels captured the title a year after finishing as runner-up.
“It was almost sweeter because it’s more memorable when it’s a little tough,” Ole Miss coach Toby Hansson said. “These guys are resilient. I think it took a lot out of everybody. We were very happy that we were able to get the win.”
Ole Miss (9-1) entered the tournament with wins over ranked opponents Illinois and Oklahoma State this season, then beat 28th-ranked Princeton in the semifinals and 48th-ranked Alabama in the finals.
“We’ve got a great group of guys that really, really fight for each other,” Hansson said. “They showed tremendous character out there. They never give up. That’s why we’ve had success this far into the season and it’s just so much fun to work with these guys every day. It was a tough weekend. We were tested both this morning against Princeton in a very, very tough match and Alabama played a great match and pushed us all the way.”
In a championship bout that easily could have gone either way, Patrick Kaukovalta put the Tide on the board at No. 5 singles to offset the doubles point won by the Rebels. The two teams split the next two matches, with Alabama’s No. 1, Edson Ortiz, scoring an upset with a win over 55th-ranked Tim Sandkaulen in straight sets.
Back came the Rebels with a win at No. 6, needing only one more win to clinch the title. At No. 4 singles, Alabama Zhe Zhou won the first set against Jan Soren Hain, then won the second 7-6, forcing both teams to turn their attention to the climatic battle between Slavic and Nesterov.
“In a week where I thought we had the best doubles practices, it’s kind of ironic that we were able to win these matches (against Texas Tech and Arizona) without (points from) doubles,” Alabama coach George Husack said. “But we’re a gritty group of guys. We’re a great group of guys that can compete with anyone. This weekend just proves that we’re a good team and making progress.”
Defending Blue-Gray champion Arizona settled for fourth place after losing the consolation match to Princeton 4-0. Texas Tech beat Fresno State 4-0 for fifth place and Middle Tennessee beat Auburn 4-2 for seventh place.
In the women’s division, 19th-ranked Wake Forest upended fifth-ranked Princeton 4-1 to capture the title after finishing second in 2018 to Illinois and second in 2019 to Oklahoma State.
“We absolutely love this tournament,” Wake Forest coach Jeff Wyshner said. “This is our third year here. We’re loving it a little more this year because we were runner-up two years in a row. But we could finish eighth every year and we would want to be here. This is the best event in college tennis I’ve ever been to. It’s the best event we go to.”
Yale defeated Auburn 4-2 to take third place. In a battle reminiscent of the men’s championship battle, Alabama’s Luca Fabian and Southern Methodist’s Nicole Petchey waged a three-set battle in front of their teammates before Fabian finally won 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to help the Crimson Tide take fifth place with a 4-3 win over the Mustangs. Arizona defeated South Alabama 4-0 to take seventh place in the tournament.