The Auburn men's tennis team opened the spring season with a convincing 6-1 victory over Samford Sunday afternoon in an indoor match at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
"It's always good to start with a win, and this was a much stronger Samford team we were facing," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "They came ready to play, and that was evident in doubles, where there were tight matches at one and two. We've got to hold our breaks better when we get them; that's a matter of attention to detail going forward.
"In singles, I'm happy with how we played, but we need to be more physical with our legs, and we need to be more consistent in constructing our points. That just takes repetition – doing it again and again and again."
The Tigers got off to a strong start in doubles. Playing in his first Auburn match, transfer Jan Galka paired with Tyler Stice to post a 6-1 victory over Samford's Mohammed Bellalouna and Tomas Sanantonio on court three. The other two doubles matches were close, with Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett emerging with a 6-4 victory on court one over Rossouw Norval and Eladio Fabregas to clinch the doubles point.
Auburn carried that momentum into singles, capturing the first set in five of six matches. Maxwell Giddens was first on the scoreboard for the Tigers with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Bellalouna on court six. Murgett gave Auburn another point with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Fabregas on court four, before Galka clinched the team win with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Jim Hendrix.
The remaining singles matches were played out, with Stice, playing on court one, erasing an 0-4 start to the second set to post a 6-3, 6-4 win. Tad Maclean and Tom Wright each took his match to a 10-point third-set tiebreaker, with Maclean emerging the winner by a 10-8 score. In an extra match, Tim Dollman defeated Matthew Gooch by a 6-1, 6-0 score.
"All in all, I'm happy to get the win and we'll use it to learn and get ready for next week's matches," Reynolds said.
This was the first of 10 home dates for Auburn this spring, after the Tigers competed in three SEC-only tournament-style events during the fall semester.
Auburn returns to action next weekend with a pair of matches at Clemson, facing Old Dominion and South Florida. The Tigers' next home match comes Sunday, January 31, hosting Georgia Tech.
Auburn 6, Samford 1
Singles
Tyler Stice (AU) def. Rossouw Norval (Sam) 6-3, 6-4
Tad Maclean (AU) def. Victor Chaw (Sam) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)
Jan Galka (AU) def. Jim Hendrix (Sam) 6-0, 6-2
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Eladio Fabregas (Sam) 6-4, 6-2
Tomas Sanantonio (Sam) def. Tom Wright (AU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Maxwell Giddens (AU) def. Mohammed Ali Bellalouna (Sam) 6-1, 6-2
Tim Dollman (AU) def. Matthew Gooch (Sam) ex. 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
Maclean/Murgett (AU) def. Norval/Fabregas (Sam) 6-4
Wright/Giddens (AU) v Chaw/Hendrix (Sam) 4-5 unfinished
Galka/Stice (AU) def. Bellalouna/Sanantonio (Sam) 6-1
Time of match: 2:42; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1; Singles: 6,4,3,1,5,2; Official: Donna Jerome
