SEC Tennis

[Clemson_tennis]

Good week for The Maden bro doubles team. That'll be one good team this season.

This is why teams like Georgia remain towards the top. Their returning players return much better like Pieters and Lutjen.

[TopDawg]

South Carolina in action today against UNC Charlotte and Presbyterian. Cocks beat UNC Charlotte 6-1 (Recap) and they lead Presby 1-0. Cocks #2 Andrew Adams not playing today. LiveStats link if you want to follow current match

[jaggy]

Are the South Carolina women also called the cocks?

[TopDawg]

Originally Posted by jaggy

Are the South Carolina women also called the cocks?

I think they call them the Lady Cocks and I'm not kidding about that. Clemson_tennis could probably tell us for sure.

[Kirijax]

Always thought that was a bizarre name.

[slice bh compliment]

Yeah, GameHens would have been apropos. But they probably wanted to stick with the whole rooster thing.

[Jakes On A Plane]

...and people say that Redskins, Indians, Blackhawks, etc. all have inappropriate/insensitive team names.

[andfor]

It's a fricking Rooster. I guess someone named Dick is inappropriate to. Come on.

[TopDawg]

Vandy opened up its season today with a 7-0 rout of Butler - recap - next up Michigan State on Sunday.

[Clemson_tennis]

Auburn's indoor courts look nice visually but are awful functionally. There is one small set of bleachers on the side of court 1 and then there are 6 courts all the way down. There is no way to see 5 and 6 that far, cannot see the score trackers. There is no room to walk behind the courts and no openings to view from behind.

[TopDawg]

Tough loss yesterday for Georgia going down 4-3 to Ole Miss. The weather was sunny and 65 though the wind kicked up a little near the end of doubles and brought with it the smell of smoke from a controlled burn from a few miles away.

It was my 1st visit to the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center and I was impressed. Very nice tennis complex with stadium seating behind the 2 main courts and then you've 2 more courts off to the right and 2 more to the left. Here is some video showing the layout. As you can see they have a nice big central scoreboard between courts 1 and 2 and they also have individual scoreboards behind each court. From a fan's perspective you could only really see 4 courts at once and during doubles if you're in the main stadium you really couldn't see much of court 3.

Doubles Intros:

1: Jonas Lutjen/Nik Scholtz (OM) def. Ben Wagland/Hernus Pieters (UGA) 8-4: Reb pair outplayed Ben and Hernus in this one. The Ole Miss duo went up an early break which Ben and Hernus got right back but then they got broke again and never caught up. Both Ben and Hernus had a hard time putting overheads away and it cost them on several points.

2: Johan Backstrom/Stefan Lindmark (OM) def. Nathan Pasha/Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) 8-6: Rebel pair jumped out to a 5-1 lead before Pasha/Brass came back. Early on the Georgia pair had a really tough time getting serves in which led to the 2 break deficit. Pasha in particular double faulted a good 3 or 4 times. Lindmark had some excellent touch at the net. Here is about a 5 minute sequence with Ole Miss serving up 6-5 in which Georgia has a break point but can't break through. It also has the conclusion at #1 dubs and then the Pasha service game at 5-7. Here is Backstrom serving for the doubles point. There were a couple of really good points that ended with Brasseaux putting one into the net.

3: Austin Smith/KU Singh (UGA) defeated William Kallberg/Adriaan du Toit (OM) 8-3. Because of where I was sitting I didn't see any of this one. Georgia went up an early break and cruised. de Toit was making his Rebel debut in this one.

Losing doubles definitely hurt because with the point we win the match.

Singles - both teams did some shuffling to their usual lineups - Ole Miss swapped Kallberg and Lindmark at 3 and 4. Lindmark had been at 5 most of the season up until a week ago. Georgia really shuffled the deck by dropping Pasha from 1 to 3 and Pieters from 3 to 5. KU Singh was put back in at 1 which I thought was a little odd after being out a month. I thought he might get put in at 2 or even 3. The only rematch from their meeting in Seattle was at #6 singles between Brasseaux/Skogeng. Hindsight is always 20/20 but had Pasha played at 2 and Wagland at 3 and Pieters at 4 and Smith at 5 we probably win this one 5-2.

1: Nik Scholtz (OM) def. KU Singh 6-2 7-6 (2) - Scholtz broke KU to start the match and was a good bit sharper in the 1st set. Here is some video of the opening 2 to 3 games at 1 and 2 singles. In the 2nd set KU played much better with fewer errors and led 5-2 but couldn't close the door. After Scholtz held to get it to 5-3, KU went down 0-40 on his service game and was broke at 30-40. Then with Scholtz serving at 4-5 KU went up 15-40 but couldn't get the break. I believe KU had another set point with Scholtz serving at 5-6. KU was overruled a few times on line calls and one was on an ace by Scholtz at deuce 5-6. I couldn't see if from my view point but the fans and the chair saw it good (JLyon, were you in the chair for this one?). Once it went to the tiebreak I went back up in the stands to get the TB on video but it was all Scholtz in the TB. Here is that 2nd set tiebreaker. If KU could have pulled the set out it would have taken a lot of pressure off Austin because once this match ended everybody flocked down closer to court 4.

2: Jonas Lutjen (OM) def. Ben Wagland (UGA) 7-5 6-1. Here is some video early in the 1st set on courts 1 and 2. It was a very even 1st set up until Wagland got broke serving at 5-5 and in fact I thought Wags was better in the set but Lutjen took it. Here is video of Lutjen serving for the 1st set. Wags was up 15-40 and had a good opportunity at 30-40 but Lutjen had some nice touch on a volley. Wagland started to check out shortly thereafter with several near racket tosses. The 2nd set was not close at all.

3: Nathan Pasha (UGA) def. Stefan Lindmark (OM) 6-4 6-1. This was the 1st time Pash hadn't played at 1 or 2 all year and it looked like he read Manny's message loud and clear. Lindmark actually went up an early break in this one before Pasha started to take over. I didn't see a ton of this one due to my viewpoint between courts 2 and 5. Here is match point for Pash.

4: William Kallberg (OM) def. Austin Smith (UGA) 1-6 7-6 (7) 6-4. I didn't start watching this one until it was 6-1 4-2 with Austin leading. I figured I'd get the finish off this match and Pasha's match at the same time. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way. After Kallberg held to make it 4-3, Austin was broken rather quickly but then he broke back quickly and was serving for the match up 5-4. He went down 0-40 and after getting 1 point back was broke. In that 3 game sequence Kallberg did a good job keeping it in play and Austin kept missing wide, long, and into the net. That same play continued into the tiebreak when Kallberg went up 6-1 and was serving for it then they did a role reversal and Austin started playing with more control and Kallberg got a little tight and started spraying shots all over the place. The pivotal point came at 6 all in the TB when Kallberg hit one that at 1st glance looked like it was going to sail long and that's what Austin thought too. But the ball nose dived right on the line and since Austin was out of position watching the shot instead of getting ready to return all he could do was hit a backhand shovel shot and stuck it in the net. When Kallberg closed out the tiebreak I did not have a good feeling about that 3rd set. Like I mentioned earlier once the Singh/Scholtz match finished everybody moved down there and was going nuts after every Ole Miss make and Georgia miss. Kallberg soaked it up and used the energy to his advantage. Here is some video with Kallberg serving up 4-3 in the 3rd. I was pretty far away so you weren't going to hear me object to any line calls (chimes provided background music). Austin had a break point in this service game but couldn't get. Here is the final service game of the match with Kallberg serving up 5-4. Austin was up 15-30 and then at 30-30 lost a long point that sealed his fate.

5: Hernus Pieters (UGA) def. Johan Backstrom (OM) 6-4 6-0. Pieters went down an early break and trailed 3-1 before he turned it around. This was the lowest spot in the lineup Pete had played all year. I watched the latter parts of the 1st set and Hernus was working Backstrom over from the baseline.

6: Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) def. Adrian Skogeng (OM) 6-1 6-2. Lopsided match from the get-go. Garrett really dominated Skogeng. Garrett's dad was about the only other Georgia supporter I saw there.

No time for Georgia to sulk over this one because they've got Mississippi State tomorrow in Starkville. We'll see if Manny keeps this same lineup or switches it up again. FYI, all the video was shot in HD so you can adjust the setting on youtube and it'll play it back in HD (may take longer to load)

[JLyon]

Yah I was in the chair for #1, had 3 overrules in the match, 2 in UGA and one in Ole Miss, all obvious, but a very fair called match by both players. Both very nice to deal with

[TopDawg]

I made the trip down to Athens yesterday to see this one and it wasn't as close as I anticipated though if Florida had got the doubles point it would have gone on much longer. It was a perfect day for tennis - sunny and 70 with a little gust of wind at times. Crowd was pretty good with this being during spring break - close to 500 or so. Florida had a handful of fans there - more than we did in Oxford.

Doubles Intros & Opening 10 Minutes of Doubles:

1: Ben Wagland/Hernus Pieters (UGA) defeated Bob van Overbeek/Stephane Piro (UF) 9-8 (2): There were no breaks of serve in this one though VOB/Piro had at least 6 or 7 break point opportunities. The Florida pair held serve pretty easily throughout the match and I don't recall Ben/Hernus having more than 1 or 2 break chances. I kept thinking it was just a matter of time before Florida broke and pulled away but it never happened. Here is Piro serving at 7-8 to send it to a tiebreak to decide the point. After he holds it goes to the tiebreak which Georgia wins 7-2.

Here is some additional doubles footage - at the time Georgia was up a break on 2 and Florida up a break on 3.

2: Gordon Watson/Billy Federhofer (UF) defeated Nathan Pasha/Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) 8-5. Up until a week ago Pash/Gbrass were undefeated at doubles but they've now lost 2 straight. They got the early break and led 4-2 before Watson/Federhofer turned it around and won 6 of the next 7 games to take it. Many of the games were close but Florida's pair won all the 30-30 games. Here is Gordon Watson serving for it up 7-5. It looked like Pash/Gbrass were going to go up 0-30 in this game but a ball came by the net which drew a let call. Gators won the next 4 points to take it.

3: Austin Smith/KU Singh (UGA) defeated Florent Diep/Mike Alford 8-6. Gators went up an early break in this one and led 3-1 but Smith/Singh got the break back to tie it at 4 then they stayed on serve until they broke Alford to take the match. Here are the final 2 points of the match.

Getting the doubles point was big because it gave our guys some room to breathe. Here are a couple of comments from Manny following the doubles point.

1: KU Singh (UGA) led Florent Diep (UF) 7-6 (1) 2-2 - There were no breaks of serve in the 1st set and neither had many break point opportunities but there weren't many quick service games either. Here is the 1st set tiebreak which KU won going away. After 12 straight holds in the 1st set each player was broken in their 1st service game of the 2nd set. It was still early in the 2nd set when the match was halted following the clinch.

2: Nathan Pasha (UGA) tied with Bob van Overbeek (UF) 6-2 5-7 - It is a shame this one didn't have a chance to finish because it was a pretty good slugfest. Pasha was in control in the 1st set and won the set pretty easily and went up a break in the 2nd set and looked like he'd finish it but VOB started hitting his shots and turned it around. Here is video of both Pasha and Wagland serving for the 1st set.

Here is early 2nd set action at 2 and 3. Many of the videos show points from 1, 2, and 3 singles.

3: Ben Wagland (UGA) defeated Stephane Piro (UF) 6-2 6-2 - I really thought this was going to be the best match of the day but it was by far the most lopsided. Piro played like he was ****ed off the entire match - I don't know if it was the wind, his own play, or Wagland's play that was the cause or a combo of all 3. Here are the opening service games for each. Wagland went up a double break and cruised through the set. Piro was hitting more shots out than in and Wagland's forehand was on almost all match. Here is Piro serving at 1-5 in the 1st. I thought Ben would break to take the set but Piro got the hold. The video of Ben serving for the 1st set is above combined with Pasha serving for the 1st set. Here is Wagland serving for the match.

4: Austin Smith (UGA) defeated Mike Alford (UF) 6-3 6-4 - Both players had similar styles but Austin was just a little better today. I didn't watch a ton of the action on the lower 3 courts but Austin seemed to be dictating play every time I looked that way. Here is Austin's final service game of the match.

5: Billy Federhofer (UF) led Hernus Pieters (UGA) 7-6 (2) 0-1 - Hernus was up 5-2 in the 1st set and looked like he was going to run away with it but Federhofer kept chipping away at the lead. Federhofer is the only male player I've seen that hits his forehand with 2 hands. It looks odd but it works for him.

6: Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) defeated Luke Johnson (UF) 7-5 6-4 - Johnson was up a break in each set but Garrett kept coming back. In the 2nd set the score was showing Johnson up 3-1 then maybe 3 minutes later it changed to show Garrett up 5-3. I didn't follow this one much and didn't have a chance to get any video because it finished within 30 seconds of the match at 4.

All in all it was a good win that if played out would have likely finished 5-2 or 6-1. I don't think KU was going to lose at 1 but VOB had the momentum at 2 and Hernus wasn't doing anything special at 5. It would have been nice to see them at least play a 3rd set tiebreak in each of the remaining matches because the weather was great, we are at home on Sunday, and Florida only had to go to Knoxville for a match on Sunday. I don't remember them cutting off the remaining matches in year's past unless it was on a Sunday and the opponent had a long ride back home.

[TopDawg]

Some interesting results yesterday:

South Carolina took it to Auburn 5-2. Auburn been a bit of a disappointment.
LSU upset a reeling Ole Miss team 4-3. Bad loss for the Rebs.
Tennessee going on the road and beating Kentucky 4-1 and winning at both 1 and 2 singles.
Mississippi State dropped the doubles point to Arkansas but came back to win 4-1
Florida took care of Alabama 4-1 with Diep losing at 1. VOB down to 3 but he won. Alford seems to be struggling.
Georgia came back from losing the doubles point to beat Vanderbilt 4-2.

[TopDawg]

Definitely my shortest drive to see the Dawgs this year as I got off work early and made the 5 minute drive from downtown over to West End. I was expecting the match to be held indoors with the temperature in the mid 40s but Vandy's coach wanted it outdoors so that's where it was played. Vanderbilt had yet to play a home outdoor match and with a pair of home contests next week against Auburn and Alabama he probably wanted the players to get out there and get used to the court conditions. It was the biggest crowd I've seen at a Vandy match with probably close to 300 or so there and most of them pretty vocal.

Here is the layout of the Currey Tennis Center and its surroundings - baseball and football stadiums to the right and the indoor tennis center to the left. The stadium seating is behind courts 1 and 2 and the courts go 5, 3, 1, 2, 4, 6 from the top to the bottom. You can stand right behind the court at 5, 3, 1, and 2 but not 4 and 6.

Doubles Intros - they did not line the teams up and have them shake hands and whatnot like they do at several places.

1: Ben Wagland/Hernus Pieters (UGA) defeated Ryan Lipman/Marc van der Merwe (VU) 8-4: This was by far the best match I've seen Ben and Hernus play as they jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back. They both played solid in all areas and faced very few break points. Here is the finish to the match along with some points from 2 and 3 dubs.

2: Gonzales Austin/Suresh Eswaran(VU) defeated Nathan Pasha/Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) 9-8.(3). After winning 6 straight matches Pash/Gbrass have now dropped 4 in a row. They just can't seem to get the big points at the right moments. They went down an early break and trailed 3-1 then tied it up at 4 where it stayed on serve until the tiebreak. Both sides had several break chances but couldn't convert. This clip picks it up with Vandy serving at 7-8 30-40. Garrett had a nice return but Eswaran had an even nicer drop volley. After getting the 1st point in the tiebreak Garrett and Nate dropped the next 5 points and never recovered.

3: Rhys Johnson/Jeff Offerdahl (VU) defeated Austin Smith/KU Singh (UGA) 9-8 (5). Austin/KU went up an early break but Vandy got it back to tie it at 3. No breaks after that though Austin dug himself out of an 0-40 service game to get a hold to tie it at 5. In the tiebreak Vandy jumped out to a 3-1 lead then Austin/KU won 3 straight to go up 4-3 before Vandy won the next 3 to go up 6-4. At the 4:40 mark in the clip you'll what appeared to be match point for Vandy but the out call on Austin's overhead is overturned by Vandy Assistant Coach Jamie Hunt. Vandy took the next point to win the TB. I didn't care for KU's attitude after the match by refusing to shake hands with the Vandy guys. I guess he thought they tried to hook them on that call but that's no excuse. It looked like Jamie told him to get to the net and do the right thing.

Singles:

1: Ryan Lipman (VU) defeated KU Singh (UGA) 1-6 6-3 6-2 - KU played very well in the 1st set but faded as the match went on. His serve didn't see to have the usual pop in the 2nd and 3rd sets. Lipman also picked up his game down the stretch too. Here is KU serving down 1-5 in the 3rd. KU came back to hold before Lipman served it out.

2: Ben Wagland (UGA) defeated Gonzales Austin (VU) 6-3 6-2 - After a great showing in doubles Ben played equally as well in singles. The bulk of the fans were sitting behind his court and were giving it to him throughout the match. Ben made the mistake of giving it back to them which only fueled the flre. Vandy's coach had to calm the group down once. Wagland dictated play the entire way and was never in trouble. He jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the 1st set and did give one break back but kept it together to take the set. The 2nd set wasn't very close either. Ben's forehand was overpowering and he served great. Here is Wagland serving for the match. You'll hear him and the crowd going at it.

3: Nathan Pasha (UGA) defeated Jeff Offerdahl (VU) 7-5 6-0 - I expected Nate to roll in this one but the 1st set was a real struggle. Offerdahl went up an early break and was in control just about the entire set. Nate was having trouble hitting the low balls and kept putting them into the net - he was getting very frustrated. Offerdahl led 5-3 in the 1st set and served for it up 5-4 but couldn't get the hold he needed. Here is Nate breaking to take the 1st set - in between points of the Pieters/Yee match. The 2nd set was a rout as Offerdahl couldn't recover from dropping his serve twice at the end of the 1st set. This clip has match point at the very end.

4: Austin Smith (UGA) defeated Marc van der Merwe (VU) 6-3 6-4 - Not a whole lot of excitement in this one. Austin got up a break early in the 1st set and didn't give it back. In the 2nd set he broke to go up 4-3 then served it out up 5-4. He is match point which also clinched the team win.

5: Hernus Pieters (UGA) led Kris Yee (VU) 7-6 (1) 1-3 - Hernus broke to go up 2-0 in the 1st but Yee broke right back to get it back on serve. Lots of long grinding points the rest of the way with most games going 40-30 or to deuce. Hernus dominated the tiebreak taking it 7-1. Here is that 1st set TB. Yee went up 3-0 in the 2nd before Hernus held to make it 1-3. They stopped the match once Austin clinched it. It would have been nice to play it out but the temperature was dropping, the wind was picking up, and it was spitting rain.

6: Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) defeated Rhys Johnson (VU) 6-2 6-4 - With the way Johnson had been playing I thought Garrett was going to be in trouble but Garrett led the whole way and was never in trouble. This was on the far court so it was tough to get any video.

After dropping the doubles point in those 2 tiebreakers it was good to see the guys respond in singles by winning all 6 1st sets. The conditions weren't ideal but at least it wasn't windy. Next up will be Kentucky and that one will be indoors so getting off to a good start will be important since there are just the 4 indoor courts. If Georgia wins this one it will all but wrap up the regular season title.

[JLyon]

Originally Posted by TopDawg

Definitely my shortest drive to see the Dawgs


3: Rhys Johnson/Jeff Offerdahl (VU) defeated Austin Smith/KU Singh (UGA) 9-8 (5). Austin/KU went up an early break but Vandy got it back to tie it at 3. No breaks after that though Austin dug himself out of an 0-40 service game to get a hold to tie it at 5. In the tiebreak Vandy jumped out to a 3-1 lead then Austin/KU won 3 straight to go up 4-3 before Vandy won the next 3 to go up 6-4. At the 4:40 mark in the clip you'll what appeared to be match point for Vandy but the out call on Austin's overhead is overturned by Vandy Assistant Coach Jamie Hunt. Vandy took the next point to win the TB. I didn't care for KU's attitude after the match by refusing to shake hands with the Vandy guys. I guess he thought they tried to hook them on that call but that's no excuse. It looked like Jamie told him to get to the net and do the right thing.

KU is actually lucky because he could have been coded for unsportsmanlike conduct and carry over to the singles match.

[Vicious Vik]

TopDawg. What kind of easy job do you have where you can have it revolve around UGA's tennis schedule?

[10isplayer]

Originally Posted by Vicious Vik

TopDawg. What kind of easy job do you have where you can have it revolve around UGA's tennis schedule?

It's called the weekend you know the crazy thing where people don't have to be in the office?

[Vicious Vik]

Originally Posted by 10isplayer

It's called the weekend you know the crazy thing where people don't have to be in the office?

I feel sorry for you

[TopDawg]

Originally Posted by Vicious Vik

TopDawg. What kind of easy job do you have where you can have it revolve around UGA's tennis schedule?

I follow Georgia like you follow Texas though I make it to a few matches a year. You seen the Horns in person this year?