College Tennis News - Alabama Men's Tennis Sends Three to NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships

Myneni, Buikema and Thibaudeau Selected to Compete in National Tournament

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama seniors Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau were one of 32 doubles teams selected to take part in the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Doubles Championships, while junior Saketh Myneni was one of 64 to advance to the Singles Championships. Both competitions will take place May 20-25 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas.

Buikema and Thibaudeau, currently ranked 23rd in the nation, were at-large selections for the tournament. The two will be making their third consecutive appearance together in doubles. Last season, the tandem fell in the first round to top-ranked Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey of Virginia, and in 2007 also faced the draw’s top pair in Illinois’ Ryan Rowe and Kevin Anderson where the Illini duo came out on top. They enter the tournament with an overall record of 16-9 including six wins over nationally ranked foes.

Myneni will be making his first appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship scene and first Tide netter to do so since Joseph Jung in 2006. Myneni has consistently played all season at No. 1 for Alabama and is currently No. 22 in the national rankings. He enters tournament play with an overall record of 18-10 and has picked up 10 wins against ranked opponents this season.

The Tide begins team play in the NCAA Tournament Friday, May 8 when it hosts No. 59 Furman at 5:00 p.m. (CST) at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium. Tickets are now available on RollTide.com and can be found by clicking here.