Auburn will have three Tiger veterans poised for success as the men's ITA All-American Championships take place this week in Tulsa, Okla.
Tyler Stice is one of 48 automatic qualifiers in the 64-player main draw for singles, and Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett are among 24 automatic qualifier main draw entries in doubles and 112 qualifying round participants in singles.
All matches will be played at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa and Case Tennis Center at LaFortune Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
All-Americans Maclean and Murgett begin qualifying round singles play on Monday, and the NCAA doubles finalist duo will commence doubles main draw action on Thursday.
Stice, a 2021 NCAA singles qualifier and first team all-SEC selection, will start singles action Wednesday.
"I think Tyler's had a great start to the year. The first tournament, he was able to go 3-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles and build on his success from the spring," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "I think Tyler's greatest asset is that every match, every day, he brings it 100% and he usually has his most success against opponents the second, third and fourth time he plays them because they know walking on to the court how much of a battle it will be.
"This tournament is a great opportunity for him to play against guys who are going to be ranked in the top 30-40 in the country at a venue with slower courts and more heat – more of the conditions that he has had success in.
"We have another great opportunity with Finn and Tad being in the qualifying round of singles because they're in the main draw of doubles. Both of them have shown in the past that they can compete with anybody any given day," Reynolds said. "I think what separates the guys who will be in the main draw from the guys who are in the qualifying round is that day-to-day, match-to-match, week-to-week type of intensity and belief in themselves and being able to bring it with their tennis. There are several guys on our team right now who have the potential in the next couple years to do that.
"The All-American is the largest individual tournament of the year, a culmination of everything you did in the year previous and over the summer to give yourself the best chance to succeed at the largest national tournament that college tennis offers," Reynolds adds. "That's exciting and I'm looking for big things out of both Tad and Finn -- hopefully they'll get the chance to play into the main draw -- and then seeing how far Tyler can go, because the sky's the limit for him."
Saturday, 256 players began pre-qualifying action in singles, hoping to advance to Monday's qualifying round, and Monday, 64 doubles teams will begin qualifying play, hoping to advance to the doubles main draw. All entries are guaranteed at least two matches through consolation rounds.
The event finals are scheduled for Sunday, with winners advancing to the national fall championships in San Diego in November.
