The No. 24 Auburn men's tennis team hosts three matches this weekend at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn. The Tigers will entertain South Alabama Friday at 2 p.m. and on Sunday, Auburn faces Tulane at noon and Alabama State at 5 p.m. Weather-permitting, the matches will be played outdoors.
"Now it's back to business again," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "We're going to go outside, so it's a different playing environment. We go from a little bit quicker, one-strike tennis indoors to a little bit more grinding and slow play, with the elements of wind and the sun. That's what we are concentrating on this week – kind of changing our game style and withstanding a couple more balls throughout each point, but not changing who we are individually.
"South Alabama and Tulane are both going to be solid from 1 to 6. For us, it's just coming out and continuing to do what we've done, taking care of each and every position to the best of our ability. I think we do have an advantage in the doubles for both of these matches, so continuing to stress the importance of doubles and hopefully getting that doubles point will make life a lot easier for us." The Tigers have won the doubles point in every match this spring.
Auburn is 5-0 for the spring season; the Tigers are ranked No. 24 in the Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25 this week, and also No. 24 in the ITA rankings. That's the first Top 25 listing for the Tigers since the 2013 season.
In the new ITA individual rankings, the Tigers continue to have three ranked players in singles: Jan Galka (84), Tad Maclean (85) and Tyler Stice (95). In doubles, Galka and Stice are ranked No. 44.
Auburn's Will Nolan earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors after his singles success at Georgia Tech stretched his unbeaten spring record to 5-0.
South Alabama is 6-1 this spring, coming off a 5-1 win over UAB Wednesday. Tulane is 2-2 and Alabama State is 0-2 this spring.
Free pizza is the giveaway for fans both days, while supplies last. All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (1717 Richland Road, Auburn) and admission is free. Auburn has an indoor mask policy currently in effect campus-wide.