All-American Tad Maclean won a pair of qualifying matches Tuesday to advance to the main draw of the men's ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
"There have been a lot of positives already this week," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "We're checking off a lot of accomplishments for our program in having Tad advance through qualifying to join Tyler in the main draw.
"It makes me smile as a coach to witness the culmination of hard work, understanding your game and believing in yourself at one of the biggest individual tournaments of the year. Tad has the ability to compete and have success against anyone in the country when he's hitting on all three of those areas. He's riding a wave of confidence going 6-0 so far this fall, and I know there's still a lot of room for more this week."
Maclean, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Rafael Marques da Silva (Liberty) on Monday, started Tuesday morning with a dominant performance, defeating No. 103 Mattias Siimar (Florida) by a convincing 6-0, 6-2 score.
Tuesday afternoon, Maclean continued his winning ways, capturing a first-set tiebreaker and going on to defeat John Hallquist Lithen (Ole Miss) by a 7-6 (5), 6-4 score. That victory earned Maclean a place in the tournament's main draw and was the senior's 100th victory as an Auburn Tiger.
In the consolation bracket Tuesday, Auburn's Finn Murgett dropped a three-set match to Texas A&M's Matthis Ross (ranked No. 79) by a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1 score.
Tyler Stice, a 2021 NCAA singles qualifier and first team all-SEC selection who is ranked No. 19 currently, will start singles action Wednesday as an automatic qualifier into the main draw. Murgett and Maclean, the 2021 NCAA doubles finalists ranked No. 7 in the preseason, will commence doubles main draw action on Thursday.
The event finals are scheduled for Sunday, with winners advancing to the national fall championships in San Diego in November.
All matches are being 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.
