Auburn's Tad Maclean begins singles play Thursday in the ITA Fall Nationals at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.
The national tournament features 32 top-rated singles players and 32 doubles teams; Maclean joined the singles field by virtue of his runner-up finish at the ITA Southern Regionals in October.
"The ITA Fall Nationals singles and doubles tournament is the culmination of the season for the best players from this year's fall tournaments," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "Tad has harnessed his doubles success from last year's NCAAs and transitioned his belief in himself into his singles game this fall.
"He is understanding his game more clearly and able to maximize his strengths much more often during the match. Tad has an 11-3 singles record thus fare and I'm excited for his opportunity to extend that record this week in San Diego. The weather will be beautiful in Southern California and it's another weekend to get on the court and compete."
Maclean, a 2021 doubles All-American, will begin first-round play on Thursday; the main draw and consolation brackets play through Sunday's championship matches. Maclean's first-round opponent is top-seeded Clement Chidekh of Washington; they will square off in a noon PT match Thursday.
Friday through Sunday, an Auburn delegation consisting of Raul Dobai, Maxwell Giddens, Spencer Gray and Finn Murgett will travel to Atlanta for the GT Invite at Georgia Tech.
"The Georgia Tech tournament will have some great players from across the Southeast competing," Reynolds said. "The guys have been putting in the hard work all fall, so we look forward to seeing that transition into match play.
"It's Raul's first semester with us as coaches, and he has made some great strides so far in his development. He has the ability to compete with anyone in the country when he's playing patient, heavy tennis. This tournament will also be an opportunity to see some different doubles pairs, with Raul and Max pairing together. It's a great weekend to finish the fall on a high note."
Auburn will begin spring semester dual match play Saturday, January 15, hosting North Alabama in a doubleheader at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
