Welcome back fans to this week’s SEC Roundup! We’ve successfully completed another week of in-conference play and have quite a few storylines to break down coming out of the week. From monumental upsets to dominant hot streaks, last week had it all which means it’s time to unpack what that means for this week and beyond. One quick reminder: Be sure to tune in to our SEC Cross Court Cast on SECN/ESPN+ for all your SEC viewing if you haven’t already!
Storylines of the Week
A Turning of the Tide?
Prior to Sunday March 12th, the Alabama men’s team hadn’t won a match against a fellow SEC team since 2021. Well, they ended that streak in emphatic fashion in a 4-3 comeback win against the Florida Gators in Gainesville. At the start of the match, Florida jumped out to an early lead after capturing the doubles point with wins from Will Grant and Alex Nefve on the No. 1 court and Nate Bonetto and Tanapatt Nirundorn on the No. 2 court.
At the start of singles play, it was Filip Planinsek who got things started for the tide with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Will Grant at #2 singles. Quite soon after that, it looked like things were really going downhill for Alabama as Florida rebounded with a 6-2, 6-4 win from Axel Nefve against Enzo Aguiard at the #1 singles spot to take a 2-1 lead. 2-1 quickly became 3-1 as Lukas Greif defeated Yair Sarouk 6-3, 6-0 at the #6 spot.
From there, seemingly all hell broke loose as Matias Ponce De Leon notched a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over Nate Bonetto at the #3 singles position. On the #4 singles court, it was German Samofalov who brought the score to 3-3 with his 6-3, 7-6 (9) win after a topsy-turvy second set. After clawing all the way back from 3-1 down, Bama was able to complete the exceptional comeback on the #5 singles court as Roan “Tiebreak King” Jones defeated Florida’s Olek Orlikowski 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2). After a year and a half without an in-conference win, this win on the road will mean quite a bit to an Alabama team that has remained resilient through it all.
Gamecocks Tearing It Up
The South Carolina men’s tennis team is 14-1 on the season with a perfect 3-0 mark in conference play. Out of those 14 wins, six of them have come up against opponents ranked inside the top 20, with four in the top 10. By all means, this group feels like the hottest team in all of college tennis right now. After a 4-1 victory against #4 Ohio State that involved numerous straight sets victories, South Carolina has to feel good about where they stand in the college tennis landscape.
SEC Teams in the Rankings
SEC Men’s Teams
Once again, the same three teams, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Georgia find themselves back in the top 10 of the D1 Men’s ITA Rankings.
SEC Women’s Teams
Just like the Men’s side of things, the same three teams, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Auburn find themselves back in the top 10 of the Women’s ITA Rankings.
Upcoming Marquee Matchup
#18 Tennessee at #10 Georgia
Where: Athens, GA
When: Sat. March 18th, 2023
What time: 1:00 PM ET
Players to watch for in this matchup: #2 Ethan Quinn (UGA), #7 Johannus Monday (TN), #15 Phillip Henning (UGA) #62 Emile Hudd (TN) #90 Blake Croyder (UGA), #120 Shunsuke Mitsui (TN)
How to watch: Georgia PlaySight
