Hokies defeat No. 50 Alabama, 4-2 at Blue Gray Classic

Men's tennis opens strong at prestigious tournament

February 24, 2017

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Virginia Tech men’s tennis team knocked off No. 50 Alabama, 4-2 on Friday afternoon in the opening round of the Blue Gray Classic in Montgomery, Alabama.

Tech (4-3) got off to a solid start by winning the doubles point. Jai Corbett and Abraham Asaba paired up on court one to roll to a 6-1 decision over Alabama’s Mazen Osama and Alexey Nesterov. The Hokies secured the point with the win at two where Mitch Harper and Alexandre Ribeiro teamed up for the 6-4 win against Edson Ortiz and Spencer Richey.

Harper picked up his second win of the day this time in singles as he defeated Ortiz on three, 6-3, 6-2. Jason Kros gave the Hokies a win at five, recording a 6-4, 6-2 straight-set win over Zhe Zhou.

The Tide got on the board with a win at one where No. 62 Osama defeated Tech’s No. 49 Corbett 6-3, 7-5. Alabama again scored with a win on court four where Henrik Korsgaard battled with Richey. Korsgaard fell in the first set 6-3, but came back strong in the second to win it 6-1. The Bama player rallied for the third to secure it 6-4.

Ribeiro scored the Hokies’ match winning point on two where he squared off against Thibault Cancel. After Ribeiro won the first set 6-3, the two played a close second and were tied at 6-6 to force the tiebreak with Ribeiro winning it 10-8.

The Hokies will be back on the court in the second round this afternoon against No. 46 Rice. Tech and the Owls will play the doubles matches this evening before concluding the match tomorrow morning with singles. Check the men’s tennis twitter (@VT_MTennis) later today for a score update following doubles. A full recap of the match will be available tomorrow on HokieSports.com following singles.

Singles
1. #62 Mazen Osama (Bama) def. #49 Jai Corbett (VT) 6-3, 7-5
2. Alexandre Ribeiro (VT) def. Thibault Cancel (Bama) 6-3, 7-6(8)
3. Mitch Harper (VT) def. Edson Ortiz (Bama) 6-3, 6-2
4. Spencer Richey (Bama) def. #97 Henrik Korsgaard (VT) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
5. Jason Kros (VT) def. Zhe Zhou (Bama) 6-4, 6-2
6. Freddy Mesmer (VT) vs. Alexey Nesterov (Bama) 3-4 dnf

Doubles
1. Abraham Asaba/Corbett (VT) def. Osama/Nesterov (Bama) 6-1
2. Harper/Ribeiro (VT) def. Ortiz/Richey (Bama) 6-4
3. Kros/Mesmer (VT) vs. Cancel/Zhou (Bama) 5-6 dnf

For updates on Virginia Tech men's tennis, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_MTennis