No. 28 Men's Tennis Falls To No. 25 Texas Tech In Blue-Gray Semi-Finals

March 15, 2008

Box Score

MONTGOMERY - Auburn men's tennis fell to No. 25 Texas Tech (15-1), 4-0 in the semi-final round of the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic Saturday in Montgomery.

The No. 28-ranked Tigers (8-6, 2-2 SEC) finished the tournament 2-1 with wins in the first two rounds over Brown (4-2) and Oklahoma State (4-0). Texas Tech advanced to the championship match against No. 8 Tulsa (13-2) Sunday at 12 p.m.

Auburn continued to struggle in coming from behind after losing the doubles point as it has now lost the early point in four of its six loses.

The No. 2-ranked duo of Bojan Szumanski and Christian Rojmar defeated Alexey Tsyrenov and Terence Nugent, 8-6 on court one. Pawel Dilaj and Milan Krnjetin lost a close match to Lenoir Ramos and Ilya Babinciuc, 9-7.

Play was stopped after Texas Tech clinched the doubles victory, but No. 42 Michael Breler and Sinisa Markovic finished leading Tim Puetz and Lukas Marsoun, 4-5

Markovic kept the momentum going for Tech, winning at No. 2 over Puetz, 6-3, 6-4. Babinciuc then defeated Nugent, 7-6, 6-0, to take the 3-0 lead.

Rojmar clinched the match for the Red Raiders on court five as he defeated Dilaj, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Play was ceased on the remaining three courts, two of which were still in the first set. No. 35 Szumanski had just defeated No. 89 Tsyrenov, 7-5, on court one while Marsoun led Ramos, 5-4, in No. 3 singles.

Krnjetin took the first set over Breler, 6-4 and the two were tied, 3-3, in the second set when the match was called.

Auburn returns home Friday March, 21 to take on No. 37 Vanderbilt at 1:30 p.m. at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The Commodores are 1-3 in SEC play with a 9-4 overall record.

Tennis Match Results
Texas Tech vs Auburn
Mar 15, 2008 at Montgomery, Ala.

#25 Texas Tech 4, #28 Auburn 0

Singles competition
1. #89 Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) vs. #35 Bojan Szumanski (TTU) 5-7, unfinished
2. Sinisa Markovic (TTU) def. #114 Tim Puetz (AU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Lukas Marsoun (AU) vs. Lenoir Ramos (TTU) 4-5, unfinished
4. Ilya Babinciuc (TTU) def. Terence Nugent (AU) 7-6, 6-0
5. Christian Rojmar (TTU) def. Pawel Dilaj (AU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Milan Krnjetin (AU) vs. Michael Breler (TTU) 6-4, 3-3, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. #2 Bojan Szumanski/Christian Rojmar (TTU) def. Alexey Tsyrenov/Terence Nugent (AU) 8-6
2. Tim Puetz/Lukas Marsoun (AU) vs. #42 Michael Breler/Sinisa Markovic (TTU) 4-5, unfinished
3. Lenoir Ramos/Ilya Babinciuc (TTU) def. Pawel Dilaj/Milan Krnjetin (AU) 9-7

Match Notes:
Texas Tech 15-1; National ranking #25
Auburn 8-6; National ranking #28
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,4,5)
Semi-finals of 2008 Blue-Gray Tennis Classic