Auburn claims two shutouts in home doubleheader

Auburn claims two shutouts in home doubleheaderAuburn claims two shutouts in home doubleheader
David Gray/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – Men’s tennis swept its home doubleheader at the Yarbrough Tennis Center on Sunday over Tulsa and Alabama State. Auburn downed both teams by 4-0 final scores. Freshman Joey Phillips was responsible for the clinching point in the Tigers’ win over Tulsa while Nicholas Heng clinched the nightcap against Alabama State.

“It was great to get outside today,” said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. “For it to be the beginning of February and be able to play outside is needed going into conference play. I was happy with what I saw out of the guys. Conditions are a little slower outside and we had to play a little bit more out of opponent strike zones. I thought we did a really good job in the morning match with Tulsa by getting up on them early and getting off the court.

“The second match against Alabama State was good. We got to mix in some new guys that haven’t played as many matches early in the year so that was important for us to see. I thought that Mats (Bredschneijder), who hasn’t played in a couple of weeks, did a good job of coming out, getting that first point and helping the guys out.”

In the first match of the day against Tulsa, the Tigers got out to early leads in doubles on each of the top two courts. In the match on the top doubles court between Billy Blaydes and Will Nolan and Alex Okonkwo and Timothy Seger, the two sides held serve until Blaydes and Nolan earned a break with the score tied at three and went on to win 6-4. Alex Frusina and Joey Phillips also won by the same score on court two and clinched the doubles point for Auburn.

The Tigers took the opening set on four courts to begin singles play and dropped the other two in tiebreakers. Freshman Alex Frusina stayed hot by posting his sixth consecutive singles win to start the season on court two, defeating Luis Felipe Miguel 6-1, 6-2 to give Auburn a 2-0 advantage. Frusina cruised through the first set after winning each of the first five games. An early break in the second set led Frusina to a 3-0 lead before ultimately winning the match in straight sets.

After Frusina’s win, Nicholas Heng won in straight sets for the second time in as many matches on court six to give Auburn a 3-0 lead. On court five, Phillips and Nikola Puntaric went back-and-forth in the opening set until Puntaric received serve trailing 6-5. The Auburn freshman then won a break in a crucial deciding point to claim the first set 7-5 before taking that momentum into a 6-3 second set win to clinch the team victory.

In the nightcap against Alabama State, the Tigers and Hornets were locked in a tight doubles point. Nolan and Blaydes claimed their second doubles win of the day by a 6-1 score for their 16th doubles win as a pair this season and their sixth consecutive to begin the spring.

Both matches stayed tight on both courts two and three, resulting in both reaching a tie at five at one point. Alabama State prevailed on court three 7-5, but Phillips and Frusina won their sixth doubles match of the spring courtesy of a deciding point overhead winner by Phillips that gave the pair a break to take a 6-5 lead. The freshman duo went on to hold in the next game to win 7-5 and clinch the doubles point.

Auburn took that momentum into singles, where freshman Mats Bredschneijder dominated Matis Amier 6-2, 6-3 in his first match since opening weekend. Blaydes then earned a straight set win of his own over Alexandre Verlaguet to give the Tigers a 3-0 advantage. The win marked the 10th overall singles win of the season for the junior.

After winning the opening set 6-1, Heng trailed Eloi Roux 2-0 early in the second set but came back to win the set 6-3 and clinch the second shutout of the day for Auburn.

With the two wins, the Tigers improve to 5-2 this season and will receive a lengthy break from action before playing a road doubleheader against FGCU on Feb. 16.

 

 

Auburn 4, Tulsa 0

Singles Results:

  1. Will Nolan (AUB) vs. Alex Okonkwo (TUL) 6-7 (7-9), 1-2, unfinished
  2. #95 Alex Frusina (AUB) def. Luis Felipe Miguel (TUL) 6-1, 6-2
  3. Billy Blaydes (AUB) vs. Timothy Seger (TUL) 6-7 (0-7), 2-2, unfinished
  4. Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) vs. Reiya Komagata (TUL) 6-2, 3-6, 0-0, unfinished
  5. Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Nikola Puntaric (TUL) 7-5, 6-3
  6. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Calum Jestin (TUL) 6-1, 6-3

 

Doubles Results:

  1. #15 Will Nolan/Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Alex Okonkwo/Timothy Seger (TUL) 6-3
  2. Alex Frusina/Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Luis Felipe Miguel/Gus Tettamble (TUL) 6-4
  3. Nicholas Heng/Thomas Kennedy (AUB) vs. Will Pellegrini/Calum Jestin (TUL) 5-3, unfinished

 

Time of match: 2:16; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1; Singles: 2,6,5; Official: Donna Jerome

 

Auburn 4, Alabama State 0

Singles Results:

  1. #95 Alex Frusina (AUB) vs. David Grandinot (ASU) 6-3, 4-3, unfinished
  2. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Alexandre Verlaguet (ASU) 6-1, 6-3
  3. Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) vs. Lun Obrul (ASU) 6-2, 4-5, unfinished
  4. Mats Bredschneijder (AUB) def. Matis Amier (ASU) 6-2, 6-3
  5. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Eloi Roux (ASU) 6-1, 6-3
  6. Thomas Kennedy (AUB) vs. Matteo Lataste (ASU) 6-7 (2-7), 2-0, unfinished

Doubles Results:

  1. #15 Billy Blaydes/Will Nolan (AUB) def. Matis Amier/Alexandre Verlaguet (ASU) 6-1
  2. Alex Frusina/Joey Phillips (AUB) def. David Grandinot/Matteo Lataste (ASU) 7-5
  3. Lun Obrul/Gordan Fran Mileusni (ASU) def. Jake Kennedy/Nicholas Heng (AUB) 7-5

 

Time of match: 2:32; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 4,2,5