ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Alabama men’s tennis team will not claim a doubles national championships this year, but it came very close.
No. 11-ranked Mazen Osama and Patrick Kaukovalta played in the national championship match on Saturday but fell to No. 2-ranked Maxim Cress and Keegan Smith of UCLA, 6-3, 6-4, at the 2019 NCAA Men’s Tennis doubles championships.
Osama and Kaukovalta, the first Crimson Tide men’s players to advance to the national finals, ended the season at 19-8, including winning four of their five matches at the NCAA championships. Cress and Smith ended their season a perfect 21-0.
The Bruins won the first set, 6-3, in the best-of-three sets format. In the second set, Alabama won the first game but UCLA won the next two to take a 2-1 set lead. Alabama answered back by winning the next two games to take a 3-2 set lead. The Bruins took back control and won four of the next five games for the title.
Earlier in the week, Osama and Kaukovalta earned All-America honors by advancing to the tournament’s quarterfinals.
