FSU Men’s Tennis Upset by Alabama in NCAA Tournament

Florida State’s nationally-seeded men’s tennis team was unable to avoid the upset bug at home on Saturday as the Seminoles fell to Alabama in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Tallahassee on Saturday, 4-2.

The contest was delayed for more than an hour to weather, but the wet conditions wouldn’t stop the Crimson Tide (20-12) from rolling. After taking the doubles point, Alabama jumped to a 2-0 lead as Edson Ortiz topped FSU’s Jose Gracia in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5.

The Seminoles were able to even things up with straight set victories from Lucas Poullain and Guy Iradukunda, but Alabama regained the lead when Alexey Nesterov knocked off FSU’s Alex Knaff, 6-4, 6-2. Zhe Zhou clinched the victory for the Crimson Tide with a 3-set victory over the Seminoles’ Rana Roop Bhullar, 6-0, 1-6, 6-3.

An outstanding season for FSU will conclude with a record of 28-5. It’s the second year in a row that the Seminoles will fall in the second round. Alabama moves on to the Sweet 16 where it will face No. 5 national seed Texas A&M.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson