AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn women’s tennis has added international star Alice Battesti and graduate transfer Ava Hrastar to the 2024-25 roster, Tigers head coach Jordan Szabo announced on Tuesday. Szabo has now signed four players since being named head coach, as he inked Merna Refaat and Emma Tothová in July.
“Excited about Alice and Ava joining us for this new era of Auburn women’s tennis,” said Szabo. “Alice is one of the top players in France and Ava is one of the top players in college tennis. They both have big goals with their tennis and I am thankful they have chosen us to guide them in their tennis journeys. We will do everything we can to help them improve and take Auburn to new heights.”
Battesti will join the Tigers from the University of Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France. She claimed France’s U18 Vice Championship in 2023 as well as the French University Tennis Championship earlier this year. She won Corsica Tennis Championship junior title in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 in addition to the adult and junior titles in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to her time in college, Battesti attended Lycée Saint Paul in Ajaccio where she played soccer, handball, basketball, table tennis and swam in addition to playing tennis.
Hrastar began her collegiate career at Georgia Tech, where she compiled a 35-23 overall singles record and a 38-24 overall doubles record over three seasons. The Duluth, Georgia native earned ITA Doubles All-American honors in 2022 after qualifying for the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship. She was also named third team All-ACC in 2022 and qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship twice.
After redshirting the 2022-23 season and graduating from Georgia Tech, Hrastar joined the Ole Miss team the following season. With the Rebels, she posted a 14-14 overall singles record as well as a 13-16 overall doubles record.
Hrastar primarily appeared at the top of the Ole Miss singles lineup and the top of the doubles lineup alongside Briana Crowley for most of the season. The duo finished the season ranked 65th in doubles while Hrastar was ranked No. 108 in singles.
Auburn will begin its fall schedule at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic on Sept. 13.