Alabama Men’s Tennis Gears up for Lakewood Ranch Clay Court Classic
Friday, 12/02/2011
Crimson Tide wraps up fall season this weekend
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men’s tennis team concludes the fall portion of its schedule this weekend when it heads to the Lakewood Ranch Clay Court Classic in Sarasota, Florida. Matches will begin on Friday, November 11.
“The Lakewood Ranch event is a special tournament with unsurpassed hospitality and support,” said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. “The director of the tournament, along with the committee and basketball announcer Dick Vitale, are really behind this event and many activities are planned to insure a great experience. It’s Coach Vitale’s home club, and he is a tremendous supporter of tennis. We expect a very competitive field with a variety of nationally ranked teams.”
The Crimson Tide will be sending freshmen Stuart Kenyon and Rens van der Vis as well as sophomores Carlos Taborga and Daniil Proskura to compete against the likes of the Arizona, Miami, Florida, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Notre Dame, to name a few of the attending teams.
Both freshmen have been playing some of their best tennis of late, with strong showings at the Crimson Tide Fall Championships. Kenyon reached the finals of the doubles White draw with junior Harris Barnard as his partner, and picked up several singles wins in the tournament as well. Van der Vis advanced to the consolations finals in singles and the finals of the doubles Crimson draw with junior Jarryd Botha.
Taborga and Proskura played together at the Crimson Tide Fall Championships and also advanced to the finals of the Crimson draw before Alabama elected to not play the final against itself. Proskura and Taborga also advanced to the finals of their respective singles draws, the Namath draw and the Stallings draw.
“The fact that this tournament is on clay makes for another unique aspect of the event,” added Pate. “The playing surface changes some tactics, but most of our guys enjoy playing on clay and have years of experience on it.”
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