AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 44-ranked Auburn men's tennis team heads to Montgomery for the weekend, competing in the 72nd Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Friday and Saturday at Lagoon Park and the O'Connor Tennis Center.
Auburn is 9-3 on the season. Other teams in the Blue Gray men's field include No. 48 Alabama (7-2), No. 46 Arizona (9-1), Fresno State (3-3), No. 27 Middle Tennessee State (10-2), No. 20 Ole Miss (6-1), No. 28 Princeton (7-3) and No. 21 Texas Tech (6-3).
Auburn will face Princeton in the opening round at 12:30 p.m. Friday on the Lagoon Park courts. Other first-round men's matchups will be Arizona-Middle Tennessee State, Ole Miss-Fresno State and Alabama-Texas Tech. The Auburn women face Arizona Friday at 9:00 a.m. at Lagoon Park.
"This is a great tournament and we've been playing in it a long time," Auburn coach Bobby Reynolds said. "The host families welcome us with open arms and make an impact on our guys. That gives it a different match feel, with home-cooked meals and staying in someone's home, not a hotel.
"It's a great field this year – it's the first year since I've been a part of it that so many teams will be in the top 50. It gets us ready for SEC play.
"We play a full dual match in the morning Friday, a quick break for lunch, then come back and play doubles, then wake up Saturday morning and finish the singles of that dual match, then play another full match Saturday afternoon. And it's all outdoors. It's what we've been preparing for this season with so many doubleheaders. It's teaching these guys to be ready when it's time to go.
"This tournament is deeply rooted in Montgomery and there are so many families who have hosted Auburn players over the years and will come out and support us. It's a neat environment and fans will enjoy coming to watch.
"It's a test for the guys to mentally be ready for this weekend, especially with the cold weather, and we have several new guys who haven't played this format. It's building on what we've been working on in practice and building on what we've done successfully as a team in the matches. We have become a very close-knit team, and that is what we continue to stress."
A number of players competing are listed in the latest Oracle/ITA national rankings. In singles, No. 40 Filip Malbasic (Arizona), No. 53 Parker Wynn (Texas Tech), No. 55 Tim Sandkaulen (Ole Miss), No. 64 Jonas Ziverts (Arizona), No. 74 Ilgiz Valiev (Texas Tech), No. 80 Edson Ortiz (Alabama), No. 123 Reed Collier (Texas Tech) and No. 125 Riccardo Roberto (Alabama) are among the field.
Nationally ranked teams competing in doubles include No. 6 Payton Holden and Ryan Seggerman of Princeton, No. 40 Tim Sandkaulen and Finn Reynolds of Ole Miss, No. 43 Justin Barki and Thomas Bosanic of Princeton and No. 55 Parker Wynn and Bjorn Thomson of Texas Tech.
Matches will be held at Lagoon Park (2855 Lagoon Park Drive) and the O'Connor Tennis Center (500 Anderson Street) in Montgomery. Admission to all matches is free, as is admission to the annual Kids' Tennis Festival Saturday at 9 a.m. at Lagoon Park. For updated draws and information, go to www.bluegraytennis.com.