The No. 22-ranked Alabama men’s tennis eased its way past Charlotte, 4-2, and North Alabama, 7-0, on Monday inside the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Facility.
The Crimson Tide (4-0) began in doubles against Charlotte. Senior Mazen Osama and sophomore Patrick Kaukovalta won 6-1, and juniors Edson Ortiz and Zhe Zhou won 6-3.
The 49ers (2-3) battled back in singles play after picking up a win. Zhou won his match, 6-2, 6-2 and Ortiz clinched his match on court three, 6-4, 6-2, to put the Tide on top 3-2.
Kaukovalta and junior Thibault Cancel found themselves in a third-set battle. Kaukovalta dominated the final set against Ignasi de Rueda, 6-1, to clinch the 4-2 victory.
The Tide ran away with the second match of the day against the Lions (0-3), winning the doubles point with ease.
In singles, junior Alexey Nesterov breezed past Oscar Meslin, 6-0, 6-3. Sophomore Jeremy Gschwendtner earned his second-career win after defeating Cade Reasons, 6-0, 6-2 and sophomore Riccardo Roberto clinched the victory with a 6-3, 6-1 result against Tim Heslin.
Alabama won its final three matches to push the final score to 7-0, including getting a win for the first time this season from sophomore Sam Fischer.
Next up for Alabama is a matchup against Northwestern on Friday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. inside the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Facility.
