WACO, Texas – Auburn’s Billy Blaydes and Will Nolan exited the NCAA Doubles Championship after being defeated by UCLA’s Aadarsh Tripathi and Alexander Hoogmartens by a 4-6, 6-3 [10-6] score in the second round at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas on Thursday. Auburn has now had a doubles team represented in the event for eighth consecutive season.
The Auburn duo started the match strong, jumping out to a 3-1 advantage in the opening set before Tripathi and Hoogmartens came back to tie the set at three. The two sides traded game wins before Blaydes and Nolan earned a critical break to take a 5-4 lead and later won the set 6-4.
Tripathi and Hoogmartens captured the momentum back in the second set by winning the first three consecutive games and ultimately won the set 6-3 to set up a 10-point tiebreaker to decide the winner. In the tiebreaker, the UCLA pair won the first four points. Blaydes and Nolan battled back, but were ultimately defeated in the tiebreaker 10-6.
Thursday Results:
Aadarsh Tripathi/Alexander Hoogmartens (UCLA) def. Will Nolan/Billy Blaydes (AUB) 4-6, 6-3 [10-6]