No. 25 Auburn returns to men's tennis conference play on the road Friday at No. 56 Arkansas and concludes the week at home Sunday hosting Alabama in a 1 p.m. match at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
"This weekend is very tough with the travel – going to Arkansas on Thursday, come back on Saturday after Friday's match, have a short hit Saturday after we get in and then be ready for our in-state rival and Iron Bowl tennis," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said.
"Arkansas, especially indoors, is very good. They get to play a lot longer indoors than the rest of the SEC and they use that to their advantage. They have a wild crowd; we were in that type of environment in the MTSU match, and I wanted us to learn from it because I knew we would see it again.
"Arkansas' lineup is a veteran one. Their No. 1 doubles pair has already won a professional tournament and their No. 1 singles guy has gotten to the finals of a professional event already this year, so they're very solid at the top. We have to be ready to play aggressive indoor tennis – that's the serve, looking to take advantage with the first ball after the serve and not playing on our heels. That's what I'm looking for with the Arkansas match.
"Alabama every year, whatever they're ranked, no matter who is on their team, we have to be ready for that emotion. On paper, they're down a little bit from last year, but that's on paper, because they're still so talented between 1-2-3-4. With those guys, we know we're going to have our hands full.
"We talked about getting a lot of sleep this week, resting the body during spring break and not going too heavy with the practices and the tennis side. We need to make sure we're hydrating, getting sleep and resting because of the travel schedule and the emotional side of the Sunday match vs. Alabama. I think our guys are up for the challenge. They understand and they're gaining a lot of belief in themselves leading up to conference play, so I'm excited to see what they bring."
Auburn is 12-2 for the spring season, 1-0 in SEC play (a 5-2 win over LSU) and ranked No. 25 in the latest ITA team ratings. Arkansas is 9-6 overall and 0-2 in SEC action, with losses to Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. Alabama is 4-9 overall and opened SEC play with a loss to Kentucky. The Crimson Tide hosts Ole Miss Friday before coming to Auburn.
In the latest ITA individual rankings, the Tigers continue to have three ranked players in singles: Tyler Stice (83), Tad Maclean (110) and Jan Galka (124). Maclean, with 62 career doubles wins, now ranks 12th all-time among Auburn career leaders in that category.
Arkansas has two singles players ranked by the ITA: Aleksa Bucan (47) and Alexandre Reco (95). Alabama's doubles tandem of Filip Planinsek and German Samofalov is ranked No. 28.
All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (1717 Richland Road, Auburn) and admission is free. Fans Sunday will receive free All Auburn All Orange t-shirts while supplies last.