Jan. 20, 2008
TAMPA, Fla. - The Auburn men's tennis team put together 12 wins in the final day of the South Florida Classic, capping off its first meet of the 2008 season. The Tigers earned two singles wins and two doubles wins, capping off its Saturday meeting with South Florida, before racking up victories in eight of the 11 matches against Central Florida.
"I thought it was a good weekend for us," said head coach Eric Shore. "I thought we got better as the weekend went on and accomplished what we wanted, which was to get some match play in against some different people before our first dual meet."
The Tigers return to action Feb. 6 with their home opener against in-state rival Troy. Action is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. at the City of Auburn/Auburn University Yarbrough Tennis Center.
In Saturday's matches against host South Florida, Auburn had only one win to the Bulls' three before the match was suspended, leaving two incomplete matches and doubles yet to be played. Auburn got a quick start on Sunday, earning wins in the two remaining singles matches before splitting in doubles.
Pawel Dilaj opened up with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win over Jamal Adderley while Nick Maurillo prevailed over Michael Musslein, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4.
In the doubles matches against South Florida, the team of Milan Krnjetin and Tim Puetz defeated Lucas Jovita and Musslein, 8-5, with Hunter Mills and Michel Monteiro pulling out the 8-5 win over Diego Toledo and William Sousa.
The Auburn team of Alexey Tsyrenov and Terence Nugent lost their doubles match to USF's Daniel Daudt and Thomas Estrada, 8-6. Dilaj and Alex Petropoulos also lost their doubles match, falling 8-3 to Mahmoud Hamed and Adderley.
The Tigers kept on going and dominated in their afternoon matches, taking eight wins off Central Florida with four of Auburn's six singles victories came in two sets.
Tsyrenov got AU started with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Nikolas Overkemping. Dilaj defeated Johan Beigart, 6-2, 6-2, and was followed by Tim Puetz with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Claudio Romano. Maurillo also had a two-set singles victory, beating Tarek Ben Soltane, 6-2, 6-3.
Nugent earned a 7-6, 2-6, 6-4, win over Sinan Sudas in his match while Petropoulos defeated Brock Sakey, 0-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Taking singles losses were Krnjetin, falling 6-4, 7-6, to Blaze Schwartz while Monteiro lost 6-4, 6-1, to Danny Colon.
In doubles play, Tsyrenov and Nugent teamed up for an 8-2 win over UCF's Beigart and Sakey with Puetz and Krnjetin defeating Romano and Overkemping, 8-4.
Sudas and Schwartz earned UCF's lone doubles win, topping Maurillo and Monteiro, 8-5.
SOUTH FLORIDA CLASSIC RESULTS
USF vs. Auburn
SINGLES
No. 84 Mahmoud Hamed (USF) def. Alexey Tsyrenov (Auburn), 6-2, 6-1
Lucas Jovita (USF) def. Tim Puetz (Auburn), 6-2, 0-6, 6-4
Pavel Dilaj (Auburn) def. Jamal Adderley (USF), 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Diego Toledo (USF) def. Alex Petropoulos (Auburn), 7-5, 6-4
Nick Maurillo (Auburn) def. Michael Musslein (USF), 7-5, 1-6, 6-4
Milan Krnjetin (Auburn) def. Thomas Estrada (USF), 6-4, 6-2
DOUBLES
Daudt/Estrada (USF) def. Tsyrenov/Nugent (Auburn), 8-6
Krnjetin/Puetz (Auburn) def. Jovita/Musslein (USF), 8-5
Hamed/Adderley (USF) def. Dilaj/Petropoulos (Auburn), 8-3
Mills/Monterio (Auburn) def. Toledo/Sousa (USF), 8-5
Auburn-Central Florida
SINGLES
Alexey Tsyrenov (Auburn) def. Nikolas Overkemping (UCF), 6-2, 6-2
Pawel Dilaj (Auburn) def. Johan Beigart (UCF), 6-2, 6-2
Tim Puetz (Auburn) def. Claudio Romano (UCF), 6-2, 6-3
Terence Nugent (Auburn) def. Sinan Sudas (UCF), 7-6, 2-6, 6-4
Alex Petropoulos (Auburn) def. Brock Sakey (UCF), 0-6, 7-5, 6-4
Blaze Schwartz (UCF) def. Milan Krnjetin (Auburn), 6-4, 7-6
Danny Colon (UCF) def. Michael Monterio (Auburn), 6-4, 6-1
Nick Maurillo (Auburn) def. Tarek Ben Soltane (UCF), 6-2, 6-3
DOUBLES
Tsyrenov/Nugent (Auburn) def. Beigart/Sakey (UCF), 8-2
Puetz/Krnjetin (Auburn) def. Romano/Overkemping (UCF), 8-4
Sudas/Schwartz (UCF) def. Maurillo/Monterio (Auburn), 8-5