Trojans Fall at South Alabama

Thursday, April 5

Mobile, AL

10 a.m.

Troy University

University of South Alabama

Photo by: Tyler Myers

4/5/2012 8:24:00 PM | Tennis (M)

By: Matt Mays

MOBILE, Ala. – The Troy men's tennis team dropped its match Thursday at No.63 South Alabama, falling to the nationally ranked Jaguars, 7-0.

The Trojans (4-15) played some tight matches in singles play, but were unable to break through on the scoreboard after being swept in the doubles point.

Troy dropped doubles matches to the ranked Jaguars (14-5) at numbers one, two and three, 8-3, 8-4 and 8-5 respectively.

In singles play, Mansingh Athare at number four and Tadju Davies at number six each put pressure on their opponent. Athare fell in straight sets, but forced a tiebreaker in each set, including a 9-7 duel in the second set of a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7) loss.

Athare's match was the last to finish with Davies' wrapping up shortly before. Davies took the first set from USA's Drew Kruger, but fell in the second set and the super tiebreaker for a 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8) loss.

The strong start in singles play was a theme for the Trojans, but nobody was able to close out strong in the shutout loss.

“Today our intensity level was law at the beginning of the match and that allowed South Alabama to jump tight on us,” said assistant Guilherme Sahadi. “We had a couple of guys starting well in singles, but they weren't able to close it out.

“It's time for our guys to wake up and realize we are at the most important point of the season.”

The Trojans return to the court on Saturday when they take on UNC-Wilmington in a neutral court in Atlanta.

For more information on Troy Athletics, be sure to visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.

#63 South Alabama 7, Troy 0
Apr 05, 2012 at Mobile, Ala. (Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts)

Singles competition
1. Bocaert, Romain (USA) def. Anas Rouchdi (TROY) 6-4, 6-3
2. Leitner, Daniel (USA) def. Sami Ghorbel (TROY) 6-2, 7-5
3. Bernard, Alex (USA) def. Jamie Eccleton (TROY) 6-2, 6-0
4. Hall, Cody (USA) def. Mansingh Athare (TROY) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7)
5. Gregor, Blake (USA) def. Patrick Eichler (TROY) 6-3, 6-1
6. Kruger, Dauw (USA) def. Tadju Davies (TROY) 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)

Doubles competition
1. Bocaert, Romain/Kuehne, Christian (USA) def. Mansingh Athare/Sami Ghorbel (TROY) 8-3
2. Leitner, Daniel/Bartsch, Hanno (USA) def. Tadju Davies/Jamie Eccleton (TROY) 8-4
3. Bernard, Alex/Gregor, Blake (USA) def. Anas Rouchdi/Patrick Eichler (TROY) 8-5

Match Notes
Troy 4-15
South Alabama 14-5; National ranking #63
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,5,1,2,6,4)
T-3:10