Florida Gators
Alabama (SEC Tourney)
Men's Tennis Falls to Alabama in SEC First Round
Thursday, April 19, 2001 | Men's Tennis
The No. 29 Florida men's tennis team dropped a 4-0 match to No. 17 Alabama today in the opening round of the SEC Men's Tennis Championship at Kentucky's Boone Tennis Complex. The loss drops UF to 9-16 on the year while Alabama improves to 18-8. It marks the first time in school history that UF has not advanced past the first round of the SEC Tournament. "We won four first sets in singles to he had our chances," UF head coach Ian Duvenhage said. "We served for the match at No. 3 and No. 4 and it could have been even at two-all. We let our opportunities slip right through our fingers today. Now we've just got to go home and find a way to regroup. The way this season is turning out is not acceptable. We've got to find the answers and we've only got one more chance to turn it around. We only have ourselves to blame."
Alabama opened the match by taking the doubles point. UF took the first doubles match as the 15th ranked, All-SEC tandem of Nathan Overholser and Olivier Levant, playing together for the first time since the National Team Indoors on February 15, cruised to an 8-2 win over Maxim Belski and William Boyles at No. 1. UF trailed 7-4 at both No. 2 and No. 3 and held serve in each match to make them 7-5, but the Tide held its own serves for 8-5 wins on both courts. No. 2 proved to be the clincher as Alabama wrapped up doubles play with a point-securing ace.
Singles play was fairly even but Alabama converted first as three matches headed for a third set. Alabama won a pair of matches in straight sets with Christian Brodersen beating Ross Greenstein, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 6 and Susheel Narla beating Jeremy Wurtzman, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2. At No. 3, Levant won the opening set but Chris Gostek of Alabama broke serve to take the second 7-5. Gostek won the match's final four games to beat Levant 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 and clinch the match as Levant's backhanded return went into the net. When play was suspended, UF and UA each had a third set lead in one match while UF's Matt Behrmann held a 7-6 (9), 5-6 advantage at No. 5.
The Gators will receive word on an NCAA Tournament bid on May 3 when the team selections are announced at 3:00 pm.
Singles
No. 1 #34 Nathan Overholser (UF) v. #21 Maxim Belski (UA), 6-4, 3-6, 0-2 Susp.
No. 2 Susheel Narla (UA) d. #46 Jeremy Wurtzman (UF), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Chris Gostek (UA) d. #93 Olivier Levant (UF), 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
No. 4 Troy Hahn (UF) v. Stephen Mitchell (UA), 6-4, 6-7 (2), 2-1 Susp.
No. 5 Matt Behrmann (UF) v. Chris McRae (UA), 7-6 (9), 5-6 Susp.
No. 6 Christian Brodersen (UA) d. Ross Greenstein (UF), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 #15 Levant/Overholser (UF) d. Belski/William Boyles (UA), 8-2
No. 2 Gostek/Mitchell (UA) d. Behrmann/Greenstein (UF), 8-5
No. 3 Narla/McRae (UA) d. Wurtzman/Hahn (UF), 8-5
