TUSCALOOSA, Ala. –– The Alabama men’s tennis team will open its season this weekend, hosting the SEC/Big Ten Challenge at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. The competition on Friday will begin at noon CT, while action will start at 10 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
In addition to the Tide, Auburn and Ole Miss will represent the Southeastern Conference in the tournament, while Michigan, Purdue and Wisconsin will compete on behalf of the Big Ten.
Tournament Format
- Friday
- Noon | Doubles followed by a 5-minute break before singles
- Saturday
- 10 a.m. | Doubles followed by a 5-minute break
- 10:45 a.m. | Second round of doubles
- 11:30 a.m. | Singles
- Sunday
*All times are approximate
The Competition
- Alabama enters the tournament ranked No. 49 in the ITA preseason rankings
- In addition to the Tide, four of the five remaining teams hold national rankings
- Michigan is ranked sixth, Ole Miss ranked 24th, Auburn ranked 26th and Wisconsin ranked 63rd
- A total of 24 student-athletes will compete in the tournament, including the No. 47-ranked singles player Filip Planinsek
- Additionally in singles, No. 34 Nikola Slavic (Ole Miss), No. 77 John Hallquist-Lithen (Ole Miss) and No. 83 Mihailo Popovic (Wisconsin) round out the field
- The pairing of Nikola Slavic and Lukas Engelhardt (Ole Miss) ranks eighth nationally, while Raul Dabai, who is part of the No. 4 pairing with Auburn teammate Finn Murgett, will see action this weekend
About the Tide
- Alabama returns six players from last year’s team and adds one freshman in Andrii Zimnokh
- UA has two 2023 All-SEC honorees on its roster
- Filip Planinsek was named a Second Team All-SEC honoree for the second consecutive year, while Matias Ponce De Leon was selected for the conference All-Freshman team
- The team advanced to the third round of the SEC Tournament last year
How to Follow
- All doubles matches will be streamed, in addition to select singles matches
- Links to the stream and live stats are available at RollTide.com
Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaMTN on X, Instagram, and Facebook..
– UA –
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