Jan. 29, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Vanderbilt freshman Alex Zotov was tabbed Southeastern Conference Men’s Tennis Freshman of the Week, as announced by the league office on Tuesday.
Zotov earned the honor for his play in the Commodores’ season-opening match against Michigan State on Jan. 27. Playing in the No. 6 position, Zotov clinched Vanderbilt’s 4-3 win over the Spartans by rallying to defeat MSU’s Tyler Sauerbrey 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 after a win by Vanderbilt’s Evan Dufaux in the No. 5 position knotted the score at three.
Due to Vanderbilt’s setup with five courts inside the Currey Tennis Center, Zotov had to wait to play his No. 6 singles match after one of the other singles matches had finished. The staggered start added extra pressure to the match with everyone in the facility focused on his match.
A native of Minsk, Belarus, Zotov got off to a slow start in the match and trailed Sauerbrey by as much as 5-2 in the first set before rallying to win in a tiebreaker.
“While I didn’t think he played all that well, it was a difficult situation for him playing in his first dual match and given our setup with only five courts,” head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “Most of the time you are out there with five other teammates and suddenly he was alone and all the focus was on him. The pressure was immense and I was happy with the way he competed and won the match for us.”
Vanderbilt will return to the courts this weekend to host Samford on Saturday and Memphis on Sunday. Both matches will be held at 1 p.m. at the Currey Tennis Center.