It took nearly four nerve-wracking hours but Auburn battled to the end to achieve a 4-3 men's tennis victory over No. 25 Alabama Friday evening at the Alabama Tennis Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
Tyler Stice clinched the victory with a three-set win over fifth-year senior Zhe Zhou on court one, taking the deciding set by a 6-4 score. Stice won his first set in a tiebreaker 7-5 and kept pace with his more experienced opponent the rest of the match.
"Obviously, any time you beat Alabama, it's a huge win and an accomplishment that our guys point toward," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "They went out and had great belief in themselves; it's a new position for our team to be in going into SEC matches, but their belief is fueling their play."
"There's nobody else I'd want in that position with the match 3-3," Reynolds said of the clinching match. "Tyler wants to be able to control the outcome with the match 3-3; he has that much belief in his game and in finishing it out for our team. His game just rose every minute, and that speaks volumes as a young player going up against a fifth-year senior."
Auburn tied the match at 3-3 under the persistent play of Jan Galka, who captured a three-set victory on court four over Riccardo Roberto, winning the deciding set by a 6-4 margin after fighting his way to prevail through a second-set tiebreaker by a 7-3 count.
Tad Maclean was the first to get the Tigers on the board in singles. Facing Patrick Kaukovalta on court three, Maclean won his first set in a tiebreaker and went on to a 7-6, 6-3 straight-set win.
In one of the tightest doubles competitions of the season, Alabama took the court one match 6-3 but the Tigers prevailed on courts two and three. On court two, Tom Wright and Maxwell Giddens were 6-4 winners over Gabriel Diaz Freire and Zhe Zhou, while Tyler Stice and Jan Galka won 6-3 on court three, topping Alexey Nesterov and Edson Ortiz. It was Auburn's 10th doubles point win of the season.
The Tigers (5-7, 2-3 SEC) host No. 34 Middle Tennessee State in non-conference action Sunday at 11 a.m; the Blue Raiders defeated Vanderbilt 4-2 on Friday. Alabama is now 10-5 overall (2-3 SEC).
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.
Auburn 4, Alabama 3
Singles
Tyler Stice (AU) def. Zhe Zhou (UA) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4
#89 Edson Ortiz (UA) def. Tim Dollman (AU) 6-3, 6-2
Tad Maclean (AU) def. Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
Jan Galka (AU) def. Riccardo Roberto (UA) 4-6, 7-6, 6-4
Gabriel Diaz Freire (UA) def. Finn Murgett (AU) 6-3, 6-4
Alexey Nesterov (UA) def. Spencer Gray (AU) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles
Patrick Kaukovalta/Riccardo Roberto (UA) def. Tad Maclean/Finn Murgett (AU) 6-3
Tom Wright/Maxwell Giddens (AU) def. Gabriel Diaz Freire/Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-4
Jan Galka/Tyler Stice (AU) def. Alexey Nesterov/Edson Ortiz (UA) 6-3
Time of match: 3:52; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,2,3; Singles: 6,2,5,3,4,1