This weekend, while without apparent sources of sporting excitement in God's Country, finds itself the host of the SEC Tennis Tournament (i.e. one that we can feasibly win). This blogger would certainly be there, were it not being held in the farthest farther major city in Arkansas from Oxford.
The team is almost, if not completely, back at full strength. Bram was actually listed to play this morning but was pulled out in favor of senior Jakob Klaeson just before singles. Perhaps he didn't feel well enough to play; perhaps Chadwick knew that we wouldn't need him to beat Kentucky. Well, we didn't need him, as the Rebs took doubles and then swept the bottom three games for a 4-0 win to take us to the semis against Tennessee.
Of note in the match--Kalle double-goose-egged his opponent on court 5. Jonas took his match with ease also (0,3). Jakob fought hard to clinch the match (7-5,6-2) for the Rebels. Everyone likes to talk about how well he plays in the postseason; I would love to see that manifest itself while Bram is out of the lineup.
On the top two courts, Erling and Matthias dropped their first sets before the match was suspended. They absolutely have to play better against Tennessee and (probably) Georgia if we're to have a chance to win it all. Yeah, winning courts 3-6 will get us through every time, but I'd like to not have to count on that.
There will be more to come as the tournament progresses. For those of you keeping score at home, live updates are available here.