Jan. 23, 2011
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn men's tennis team finished competition at the Auburn Winter Invitational Sunday and the squad picked up a pair of singles victories and a doubles win against SEC rival Mississippi State on the day.
"Mississippi State played better than we did today when it really mattered," head coach Eric Shore said. "We still have a lot of work to do with our doubles matchups and despite losing a handful of singles matches, I think we've learned what we needed to work on and that's going to help us next week."
Auburn's top doubles team of Tim Puetz and Alex Stamchev remained a solid force for Tigers as the duo picked up Auburn's lone win during the doubles round. The pair defeated Mississippi State's George Coupland and James Chaudry, 8-5, and stand at 3-0 on the early season.
Individually, the Tigers got a pair of victories from two sophomores in Andreas Mies and Michael Wardell. Mies topped Bulldog Zach White in two sets (6-3, 6-2), while Wardell tallied a 6-3, 6-4 win over MSU's Tanner Stump.
Two Tigers battled to three-set matches against Mississippi State in singles competition. Stamchev opened with a 6-1 first-set victory over Coupland, but fell 7-5 in the second and 6-3 in the third. Sophomore Tim Hewitt earned a 6-4 first-set win over Artem Ilyushin. However, the Bulldog fought back and took sets two (6-4) and three (6-2).
Auburn returns to competition on Saturday, Jan. 29, as the Tigers travel to Lubbock, Texas, for the 2011 National Indoor Qualifier hosted by Texas Tech. Auburn takes on California in the opening round in a 3 p.m. match.
Singles
1. George Coupland (Mississippi State) def. Alex Stamchev (Auburn); 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
2. Artem Ilyushin (Mississippi State) def. Tim Hewitt (Auburn); 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. James Chaudry (Mississippi State) def. Rafael Rondino (Auburn); 6-0, 7-6 (2)
4. Malte Stropp (Mississippi State) def. Daniel Cochrane (Auburn); 6-1, 6-3
5. Louis Cant (Mississippi State) def. Lucas Lopasso (Auburn); 6-3, 6-2
6. Andreas Mies (Auburn) def. Zach White (Mississippi State); 6-3, 6-2
7. Antonio Lastre (Mississippi State) def. Liam Gomez (Auburn); 6-3, 6-2
8. Michael Wardell (Auburn) def. Tanner Stump (Mississippi State); 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
1. Stropp/Cant (Mississippi State) def. Lopasso/Rondino (Auburn); 8-4
2. Stump/Lastre (Mississippi State) def. Gomez/Monteiro (Auburn); 8-5
3. Puetz/Stamchev (Auburn) def. Coupland/Chaudry (Mississippi State); 8-5
4. White/Ilyushin (Mississippi State) def. Cochrane/Mies (Auburn); 8-2