Auburn men's tennis has a split weekend ahead with matches on the road and at home. The Tigers (4-7, 1-3 SEC) play at No. 25 Alabama (10-4, 2-2 SEC) Friday in a 6 p.m. SEC match at the Alabama Tennis Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
The Tigers return home to host No. 34 Middle Tennessee State (8-3, 1-0 Conference USA) in non-conference action Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
"Alabama has five fifth-year seniors, so we talk about senior leadership and experience," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "It's going to be a fiery match; we're playing under the lights at 6 p.m. and you're talking about the Alabama-Auburn rivalry.
"But we had success against them in doubles in the fall. We've seen a lot of these guys and matchups and now it's just a matter of going out there from the first ball ready to fight. I have high expectations for the dubs. It's really just putting a game plan together for each of our guys and the opponent they will most likely face. I hope our guys take confidence in knowing that we can go out there and play and can win.
"Middle Tennessee will be ready for us. We played them last year at Blue-Gray. They're a fiery team and very good at doubles. Whenever they get chances to play SEC competition, this is their chance to shine, and they're ready for it. They have a tough weekend – they start off Friday with Vanderbilt -- and it's obviously an opportunity for them but I like where we stand against them. I think the doubles point will be a tough doubles point and they have a couple of older guys coming back. I'm going to try and adjust our lineup up to where we have six singles matches that match up well."
Alabama's Edson Ortiz is ranked No. 89 nationally in singles, while Oskar Michalek of Middle Tennessee State is ranked No. 102.
All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (1717 Richland Road, Auburn). Fans wearing face coverings are welcome to attend all matches played outdoors; fans may want to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating to remain socially distanced. If weather moves the match indoors, only participants and officials will be admitted.
