AUBURN, Ala. – No. 35 Auburn defeated 25th ranked Florida by a 4-1 score on Friday afternoon in its SEC home opener at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. After defeating Georgia for the first time since 2010 on Sunday, the Tigers snapped another streak on Friday by defeating Florida for the first time since 2013.
The Tigers dropped the doubles point, then rebounded by winning four singles matches in straight sets to claim the victory.
"The guys responded really well after the doubles," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said after the match. "I was pretty disappointed as a coach because we had a lot of opportunities and we were the better team in doubles. I can't be prouder of the guys for coming back to win five first sets in singles. And even in the only first set loss, Will Nolan, he was down a break two different times and to be able to battle back and push it to a 7-6 just extended the match. It allowed our guys to feel like we were winning on every court."
Auburn went down early on courts two and three to start doubles on the indoor courts at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Florida claimed court two 6-4, but the Tigers showed life later in the doubles point. On court one, Finn Murgett and Raul Dobai never trailed, but were forced into a tiebreaker against Nate Bonetto and Aidan Kim. Murgett and Dobai prevailed in the tiebreaker to win their third consecutive doubles match and their seventh dual doubles win of the season.
Auburn battled back from trailing 4-1 to tie the match 5-5 on court three, but ultimately lost 7-5 to drop the doubles point.
The Tigers got off to an incredible start in singles play, claiming the opening set on five courts quickly over the Gators. Tyler Stice won the first four games of his opening set against No. 97 Jeremy Jin before claiming set 6-2, while Murgett and Alejandro Moreno both jumped out to 4-1 opening set leads in each of their matches and each picked up 6-2 first set victories on courts two and three, respectively.
After building a 4-1 second set lead on court four, Billy Blaydes tied the match for Auburn with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Tanapatt Nirundorn. The win marks Blaydes' team-best 13th dual match victory of the season as well as his 19th overall.
Alejandro Moreno then bounced back from 2-1 deficit early in the second set to deliver his 13th overall singles win of the season on court three by a 6-2, 6-4 score. Just moments later, Murgett picked up a straight set victory of his own over Aidan Kim to give Auburn a 3-1 lead.
"Billy [Blaydes] at four put his foot on the guy's neck and never let it off," continued Reynolds. "Moreno winning the first set, getting the late break in the second set and holding off serve to solidify his match was impressive. Then for Finn [Murgett] to get down an early break in the middle of the second set after playing great and win four games while holding serve when the time mattered was huge for us from a momentum standpoint."
After coasting to a quick first set win, Auburn's Nicholas Heng struggled early in his second set against No. 99 Kevin Edengren. Heng came back from trailing 5-3 to win his next four consecutive games over Edengren for his second ranked singles victory of the season. Heng's 6-4, 7-5 win also clinched the team victory for the Tigers and began a celebration with his teammates on court five.
Nicholas Heng delivering the clincher 💪#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/Vq05aB47QZ
— Auburn Men's Tennis (@AuburnMTennis) March 15, 2024
The win improved Auburn's overall record to 12-5 and 3-1 in SEC matches while the loss dropped Florida to an 8-7 overall record and a 2-3 record in conference matches.
Up next, the Tigers will battle No. 16 South Carolina at noon CT on Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. All fans in attendance will receive a St. Patrick's Day inspired Auburn koozie while supplies last. Live video and live scoring of Sunday's match will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.
#35 Auburn 4, #25 Florida 1
Singles Results:
1. #40 Tyler Stice (AUB) vs. #97 Jeremy Jin (UF) 6-2, 5-7, 0-2, unfinished
2. #73 Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Aidan Kim (UF) 6-2, 6-3
3. Alejandro Moreno (AUB) def. Nate Bonetto (UF) 6-2, 6-4
4. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) 6-3, 6-1
5. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. #99 Kevin Edengren (UF) 6-4, 7-5
6. Will Nolan (AUB) vs. Henry Jefferson (UF) 6-7 (3-7), 4-4, unfinished
Doubles Results:
1. Raul Dobai/Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Nate Bonetto/Aidan Kim (UF) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Jeremy Jin/Henry Jefferson (UF) def. Billy Blaydes/Alejandro Moreno (AUB) 6-4
3. Kevin Edengren/Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) def. Tyler Stice/Will Nolan (AUB) 7-5
Time of match: 2:46; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1,3; Singles: 4,3,2,5; Official: Donna Jerome