Men's Tennis Falls Short Against Kentucky Sunday

AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" No. 63 Auburn fell short in its match with No. 20 Kentucky Sunday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center, losing by a 4-1 score with two matches unfinished. Marko Krickovic and Joseph Van Dooren were honored in Senior Day ceremonies.

Krickovic and Edward Nguyen won their doubles match on court one by a 6-3 score over Nils Ellefsen and Enzo Wallart, but Kentucky took the doubles point with a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5) win on court two over Max Hinnisdaels and Brandon Laubser.

Hinnisdaels quickly picked up a 6-2, 6-2 singles win over Nils Ellefsen on court two, but Kentucky was a winner on courts four and six and the remaining matches went to a third set. The Wildcats' William Bushamuka topped Marko Krickovic on court one 6-7 (9-7), 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the match.

"We put ourselves in a position to win in doubles almost every match, but we didn't win the tiebreaker there today," said Auburn head coach Eric Shore. "We jumped on them in singles ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" give Kentucky credit for fighting back ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" but we've got to figure out ways to capitalize when we get ahead. We've got to do it in the tournament."

The Tigers (12-13, 2-10 SEC) open SEC tournament play Wednesday at South Carolina, facing Tennessee in the first round at 10 a.m. ET. Kentucky is now 18-8 overall and 7-5 in SEC action.

Kentucky 4, Auburn 1

Singles
William Bushamuka (UK) def. Marko Krickovic (AU) 6-7 (9-7), 6-3, 6-2
Max Hinnisdaels (AU) def. Nils Ellefsen (UK) 6-2, 6-2
Conner Huertas del Pino (AU) vs. Enzo Wallart (UK) 6-1, 6-7 (7-3), 4-2 unfinished
Trey Yates (UK) def. Dante Saleh (AU) 7-5, 6-2
Brandon Laubser (AU) vs. Jake Stefanik (UK) 6-2, 6-7 (7-5), 4-5 unfinished
Gus Benson (UK) def. Olle Thestrup (AU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-0)

Doubles
Marko Krickovic/Edward Nguyen (AU) def. Nils Ellefsen/Enzo Wallart (UK) 6-3
William Bushamuka/Trey Yates (UK) def. Max Hinnisdaels/Brandon Laubser (AU) 7-6 (7-5)
Ryotaro Matsumura/Gus Benson (UK) def. Conner Huertas del Pino/Dante Saleh (AU) 6-2

Length of match: 3:23; Official: Chris Rodger; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1,2; Singles: 2,4,6,1