Taking advantage of a dramatic doubles victory, Auburn men's tennis went on to defeat Wisconsin 6-1 Sunday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn.
"We were really good in doubles," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "On two of three courts, we did not allow emotion and lack of experience to carry over and thwart what we wanted to accomplish.
"In singles, we took five first sets but have to do better in understanding the ebbs and flows throughout an entire match. Wisconsin is a very scrappy, well-coached, great character team and we allowed them to feel they had a chance.
"We have to take opportunities and go for it. We've got to play offensive tennis and not stay defensive minded. This was a good learning match. We've got a tough road ahead and this gives us plenty to study."
The Badgers took an early lead in doubles on all three courts, but the Tigers fought back. Auburn's NCAA doubles finalists Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett were down 3-2 but turned the momentum in their match on court one to win 6-3 over Jared Pratt and Gabriel Huber.
Auburn's No. 28-ranked combo of Jan Galka and Tyler Stice suffered their first setback of the spring, falling 6-3 to Robin Parts and Sebastian Vile, leaving the doubles point to be decided on court three, where Raul Dobai and Maxwell Giddens rallied from a 3-1 deficit and prevailed in a tiebreaker 7-3 to win the match 7-6 over Lenard Soha and Tim Dzhurinskiy and clinch the team point for the Tigers.
In singles, the Tigers took the first set in five of six matchups. Jan Galka put the first singles point on the scoreboard for Auburn, with a quick 6-1, 6-4 dispatching of the Badgers' Gabriel Huber.
Freshman Will Nolan was next to score for the Tigers with a 6-2, 7-5 advantage over Dzhurinskiy on court six, and Raul Dobai clinched the win for Auburn with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Robin Parts on court four.
After the match was clinched, Finn Murgett posted a third-set tiebreaker win for Auburn on court five by a 10-4 margin to win his match 6-2, 3-6, 1-0, and on court one, Tyler Stice came back from an 0-3 deficit in the third set to force a tiebreaker and won that extra stanza 7-3 to defeat Jared Pratt 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 and make the final score 4-1.
Auburn is now 4-0 for the spring season; Wisconsin is now 2-2.
The Tigers are in action next Friday at Georgia Tech. The next home match is Friday, February 11, hosting South Alabama. All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (1717 Richland Road, Auburn) and admission is free. Auburn has a mask policy currently in effect campus-wide.
Auburn 6, Wisconsin 1
Singles
#47 Tyler Stice (AU) def. Jared Pratt (UW) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (3)
#59 Jan Galka (AU) def. Gabriel Huber (UW) 6-1, 6-4
Lenard Soha (UW) def. #56 Tad Maclean (AU) 6-3, 6-1
Raul Dobai (AU) def. Robin Parts (UW) 6-4, 6-4
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Sebastian Vile (UW) 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (4)
Will Nolan (AU) def. Tim Dzhurinskiy (UW) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles
Maclean/Murgett (AU) def. Pratt/Huber (UW) 6-3
Parts/Vile (UW) def. #28 Galka/Stice (AU) 6-3
Dobai/Maxwell Giddens (AU) def. Soha/Dzhurinskiy (UW) 7-6 (3)
Time of match: 3:14; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1,3; Singles: 3,2,4,6,5,1; Official: Donna Jerome