AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn men's tennis team faces SEC opponents No. 39 Vanderbilt and Kentucky at home this weekend. The Tigers host the Commodores Friday at 2 p.m. at the Yarbrough Tennis Center, and entertain the Wildcats Sunday at noon at Yarbrough.
"Vanderbilt is a good team," Auburn coach Bobby Reynolds said. "They have had a lot of success this spring with their singles – they are very solid from one to six -- but our guys feel we can make a statement in doubles if we are ready to play from the first ball, with our emotion and effort physically and attention to detail in the little things, whether it be picking up the toss on the serve and being ready for the return.
"Sunday against Kentucky, we definitely have to make sure that it is not the weather it is this week. We have to make sure we are getting them outside. They are a young team with a lot of freshmen but with a lot of size. I think they average 6-3 to 6-4 in height, so they definitely want to play indoor tennis where they just bomb serves and there are no points more than two or three shots. We have to do a good job of getting into rallies, getting into points, and making them as long as we can. That will give us success."
Auburn is 9-8 overall and 0-2 in SEC action. Vanderbilt is 6-5 (0-2 SEC) and Kentucky is 10-5 (1-1 SEC). Kentucky's Alexandre LeBlanc is No. 83 in the latest Oracle/ITA singles rankings.
All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (771 Yarbrough Farms Blvd., Auburn) and admission is free.