Auburn's Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett, the 2021 NCAA doubles runners-up, started their 2022 NCAA campaign Tuesday evening with a 7-6 (4), 7-5 victory over No. 16 Brian Carnock and Mac Kiger of North Carolina in an opening round match of the 32-team NCAA doubles championship at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Ill.
"The first round is always the toughest round to get past," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said, "but our guys came out with a bounce in their step and a smile on their face.
"They played great high percentage doubles, making a lot of returns and first serves. Give credit to UNC – they moved a lot at the net and we had to make adjustments in returning down the line more often.
"Tomorrow's match looks to be indoors, so we will prepare for a bit shorter points and more emphasis on playing aggressive doubles from the first point."
The Tigers outlasted the Tar Heels in a competitive opening set tiebreaker by a 7-4 score to take the first set 7-6. Murgett and Maclean carried that momentum into the second set, taking a 3-0 lead and, although the North Carolina duo fought back to get it close, Murgett and Maclean made one last charge at 5-5 to take the set 7-5, propelling them into the next round.
Wednesday in the Round of 16, Murgett and Maclean will face No. 69 Jamieson Nathan and Matej Panik of Montana State, who defeated No. 12 Chris Rodesch and Ryan Goetz of Virginia in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-8) on Tuesday.
All-Americans for the second straight year, the British Tiger tandem is ranked No. 6 nationally with a 19-5 overall record.
All NCAA competition is being played at Illinois' Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex; live coverage is available on the TennisOne app. All matches in the individual championships are best-of-three sets. No-ad scoring and a 7-point tiebreaker (first to seven points, must win by two points) at six-games-all will be used for all matches. In doubles, a 10-point match tiebreaker will be played in lieu of a third set.
Auburn finished 21-11 as a team, Auburn's first 20-win season since 2002. After reaching the SEC tournament semifinals, the Tigers were ranked No. 24 in the latest ITA team ratings and No. 22 in the Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25.