KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Men’s tennis dropped its first match of ITA Kickoff Weekend to No. 25 Michigan by a 4-1 score on Saturday morning at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. Auburn will now play a consolation match on Sunday at 9 a.m. CT against either No. 14 Tennessee or Illinois.
Michigan got off to a hot start with a quick win on court three to start doubles, but Auburn kept the other two courts close. On court two, Alex Frusina and Joey Phillips were up 4-2 over Patorn Hanchaikul and Benjamin Kittay before the Michigan pair won the next three games to take a 5-4 lead. The two sides traded points before Hanchaikul and Kittay ultimately prevailed by a 7-5 score to claim the doubles point.
The Wolverines brought that momentum into singles, where they won in straight sets on courts two and four to take a 3-0 lead in the match.
Frusina was responsible for the Tigers’ lone point in the match, defeating Bjorn Swenson 7-5, 6-2 on court three. Frusina and Swenson had a tight opening set that was tied at five different points. With the set tied at five, Frusina won two straight games to win the set and won convincingly in the second set for the straight set victory. The singles win marks the eighth of the season for the Auburn freshman.
On the top singles court, Auburn senior Will Nolan jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set over No. 59 Gavin Young. Young fought back to win the opening set 7-5 and went on to win the match 7-5, 6-4 to clinch the team victory for the Wolverines.
With the win, Michigan has advanced to play the winner of No. 14 Tennessee and Illinois for a bid to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship while Auburn will face the loser in a consolation match on Sunday at 9 a.m. CT.
Live video of the match will be available on Playsight and live scoring of the match will be available online at utsports.com.
#25 Michigan 4, Auburn 1
Singles Results:
- #59 Gavin Young (MICH) def. Will Nolan (AUB) 7-5, 6-4
- Benjamin Kittay (MICH) def. Billy Blaydes (AUB) 6-3, 6-4
- #95 Alex Frusina (AUB) def. Bjorn Swenson (MICH) 7-5, 6-2
- Will Cooksey (MICH) def. Joey Phillips (AUB) 6-2, 6-3
- Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) vs. #113 Patorn Hanchaikul (MICH) 1-6, 6-2, 2-3, unfinished
- Nicholas Heng (AUB) vs. Nicholas Steiglehner (MICH) 5-7, 6-2, unfinished
Doubles Results:
- #15 Will Nolan/Billy Blaydes (AUB) vs. Gavin Young/Bjorn Swenson (MICH) 6-5, unfinished
- Patorn Hanchaikul/Benjamin Kittay (MICH) def. Alex Frusina/Joey Phillips (AUB) 7-5
- #119 Alex Cairo/Will Cooksey (MICH) def. Nicholas Heng/Jake Kennedy (AUB) 6-0
Time of match: 2:38; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2; Singles: 2,4,3,1