AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn will look to defend the title it won last season at the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic over the weekend in Montgomery, Alabama. The Tigers won the championship last season for the first time since 1984 after defeating Texas Tech, Middle Tennessee and Arizona to claim the title.
"For us last year, winning the Blue-Gray was monumental for our program," said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. "It catapulted us up in the rankings and who we were as a team. We're going back with different terms. We have a target on our back being the winner from last year, but it has to be the same mindset of being ready to compete every time we step on the court. We're not going to go in and just see how things go, we need to go full steam ahead from when the first ball is played."
Montgomery's on our minds 🏆
— Auburn Men's Tennis (@AuburnMTennis) February 26, 2023
Auburn is your 2023 Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic champions! #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/6r5MxprK5x
The Tigers will enter the tournament with a 6-2 record and the winners of two straight matches. In the latest ITA team rankings that were released on Tuesday, Auburn came in at No. 48. Tyler Stice is coming off an eventful weekend that included a 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 upset singles victory over then-No. 18 Leo Raquin to improve his dual singles record to 5-2. The win also propelled Stice up 40 spots in the latest individual ITA singles rankings to 44th in the nation.
Auburn will open the event against a very familiar opponent, Middle Tennessee, on Friday. The Tigers defeated the Blue Raiders 4-0 on Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center as well as in the second round of last season's Blue-Gray Classic. Middle Tennessee holds a 7-5 record this season with its most recent match being against the Tigers.
The other teams in the field include No. 19 Alabama, No. 31 Princeton, No. 47 Old Dominion, No. 51 Boise State, No. 21 Michigan State and No. 64 Rice.
"There are a lot of returning teams that we've seen a lot of," continued Reynolds. "Based off these teams' results so far this spring, you've got a strong field this year. It doesn't matter where you are seeded, you're going to have three tough matches so we have to be ready to go from the first point in doubles regardless of who we are playing."
The event will be a bracket-style tournament with Friday featuring the opening match and the doubles portion of the second-round match. Saturday will include the singles portion of the second-round match as well as the final round match. Consolation matches will take place for teams that lose in either of the first two rounds of the event.
With a win over Middle Tennessee, the Tigers will face the winner of Boise State and Michigan State in the second round.
The opening round match against Middle Tennessee is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CT at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center. Live scoring of the match will be available online at bluegraytennis.com.