AUBURN, Ala. – No. 22 Auburn was defeated by No. 24 Florida in its first match of the 2023 SEC Championship on Thursday evening by a 4-1 final score. Auburn, the championship host, won a thrilling doubles point before falling to the Gators in singles play.
The Tigers began the match with a lot of momentum in front of a large crowd at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The top Auburn doubles team of Finn Murgett and Raul Dobai set the tone early with an upset victory over Florida's Will Grant and Axel Nefve, the fourth ranked doubles team in the country, by a 6-2 score. The win is the Auburn's duo's eighth win over a ranked opponent this season and the highest ranked doubles team they have ever defeated together.
After Jan Galka and Billy Blaydes were edged out by Nate Bonetto and Tanapatt Nirundorn 7-5 on court two, that left the result of the doubles point to court three where Auburn's Tyler Stice and Alejandro Moreno were facing Lukas Greif and Jonah Braswell in a close match. The match was decided in a tiebreaker, which Stice and Moreno won 7-4 to claim the doubles point for the Tigers.
Florida quickly took the momentum back during singles play, as it won the first set on all six courts. Nefve, the 37th ranked singles player in the nation, took down Stice in two sets 6-1, 6-3 to tie the match at one. Moments later, Florida picked up another two-set win on court four to take an advantage.
After dropping the first set 3-6, Dobai was able to claim Auburn's first set victory in singles over Olek Orlikowski on court five to force a third set.
Florida's Grant finished off Moreno 6-2, 6-4 and Blaydes was defeated by Tanapatt Nirundorn 6-4, 6-4 on court six to clinch the team win for the Gators.
With the win, 8-seed Florida improved their overall record to 14-12 and will face 1-seed No. Georgia in the quarterfinals on Friday. With the loss, Auburn's overall record drops to 17-11. Auburn's regional site and opponents will be announced on May 1st at 5:30 p.m. CT
#24 Florida 4, #22 Auburn 1
Singles results:
1. #37 Axel Nefve (UF) def. #57 Tyler Stice (AUB) 6-1, 6-3
2. #95 Will Grant (UF) def. #115 Alejandro Moreno (AUB) 6-2, 6-4
3. Finn Murgett (AUB) vs. #86 Jonah Braswell (UF) 4-6, 2-2, unfinished
4. Lukas Greif (UF) def. Jan Galka (AUB) 6-0, 6-1
5. Raul Dobai (AUB) vs. Olek Orlikowski (UF) 3-6, 6-4, unfinished
6. Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) def. Billy Blaydes (AUB) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles results:
1. #31 Raul Dobai/Finn Murgett (AUB) def. #4 Will Grant/Axel Nefve (UF) 6-2
2. Nate Bonetto/Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) def. Jan Galka/Billy Blaydes (AUB) 7-5
3. Tyler Stice/Alejandro Moreno (AUB) def. Lukas Greif/Jonah Braswell (UF) 7-6 (7-4)
Time of match: 2:28 Order of finish: Doubles: 1,2,3; Singles: 1,4,2,6 Official: Anthony Montero