AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn men's tennis returns to play at home this weekend, as they will host both Georgia Tech and the College of Charleston at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Auburn will face Georgia Tech on the outdoor courts at noon CT followed by College of Charleston on the indoor courts at 5:00 p.m. CT.
The Tigers will enter Sunday looking to bounce back after suffering two tough losses to highly ranked teams at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to No. 9 Wake Forest as well as then-19th ranked Duke.
"It was a tough weekend for us, but a humbling weekend" said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. "You go in knowing you have tough opponents whether you win or lose, with all four teams right around the top 25. I think we had opportunities we didn't capitalize on and a lot of it started in doubles and trickled over to singles in both matches. I was stressing to these guys when we met as a team that one or two points here or there makes a difference a lot of times in sets or in matches."
Georgia Tech currently holds a 5-2 record, with all five of their wins coming at home. Similar to Auburn, the Yellow Jackets dropped both matches during ITA Kickoff Weekend to Stanford and Pepperdine. Andres Martin, who is ranked 72nd in the nation in singles, has started every match on court one for the Rambin' Wreck and holds a 5-2 dual record so far this season including a recent win over No. 31 Daniel De Jonge of Pepperdine. They will battle Georgia State at home on Friday evening before coming to the Plains.
"Georgia Tech is a spitting image of the Duke team," said the eighth-year Auburn head coach. "They are very strong at 1, 2 and 3 in singles and in their doubles play. Positions that we have to win are 4, 5 and 6- where we have more experience. They're playing with a bunch of young guys in that bottom half, so that's where we have to make sure we are ready to go and show our maturity.
Auburn's second Sunday opponent, The College of Charleston, just began their season on Saturday and is currently 0-1 after being shutout by Stetson.
"Charleston is going to come in hungry and energetic to play an SEC team and it's a team we haven't played before," Coach Reynolds said about the Cougars. "We have to be ready for that. The hardest part about playing that second match is the physicality and the mentality of our guys, resetting and starting again. That's what we're trying to build with these doubleheaders – giving guys more matches and more court time to work on their game, but also to make them tougher so when they get into third sets, they're not as mentally out of it."
Both matches will be on Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama. The first match against Georgia Tech is scheduled to be played outdoors while the second match against the College of Charleston will be played indoors. Live video of the Tigers' first match as well as live stats of both matches will be available at AuburnTigers.com.
Fans in attendance can receive a complimentary Auburn tennis t-shirt and Auburn tennis keychain while supplies last.