Men’s tennis caps off weekend with wins over Georgia, Tennessee State

Men’s tennis caps off weekend with wins over Georgia, Tennessee StateMen’s tennis caps off weekend with wins over Georgia, Tennessee State
David Gray/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn picked up a 4-1 victory in a rivalry match over Georgia as well as a 4-0 shutout of Tennessee State on Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama. The Tigers’ win over Georgia was their sixth in the all-time series and Sunday’s win also marked their first time defeating the Bulldogs in back-to-back seasons in program history.

“We had an unbelievable response this weekend from last week,” said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. “I told the guys that I'm so proud of the fight that we had all the way through. Six guys in singles and doubles showed up, left everything out on the court and enjoyed it. We have a great product. We still have young guys trying to figure things out and I think this was really important for them to get over the hump and see what it feels like, and obviously to take down a great team like Georgia.”

Just as they did on Friday, the Tigers came out strong in doubles against Georgia. Georgia’s Thomas Paulsell and Oscar Pinto Sansano jumped out to an early 4-1 lead on the top doubles court before Will Nolan and Billy Blaydes fought back to tie the match at four. Nolan and Blaydes then earned a crucial break on a deciding point to take a 5-4 lead and held to win the match 6-4.

Georgia responded with a win at the No. 3 position, leaving the doubles point to be decided on court two. On court two, the two sides held serve nearly the entire match, leading to a tiebreaker. Alex Frusina and Joey Phillips picked up energy in the emotional tiebreaker and won the match 7-6 (3) on a return by Frusina.

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The emotion stayed on the court throughout singles. Georgia struck first with a straight set victory at the No. 3 singles position that tied the match at one. With the first set tied at five at the No. 5 singles position, Auburn’s Hamza Nasridinov and Niels Ratiu traded breaks to force a tiebreaker. Nasridinov won the first three points of the tiebreaker to lead him to an opening set win and rode that momentum to a 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory to give Auburn a 2-1 lead in the match.

Phillips came back from trailing Pinto Sansano 5-1 in the first set by winning six consecutive games and taking the set 7-5. After Pinto Sansano won the next set to force a third, Phillips came through with a 6-3 win in the third set to put the Tigers one singles win away from a team victory.

At the No. 6 singles position, Georgia’s Gabriele Vulpitta defeated Nicholas Heng in the first set before Heng dominated the second set 6-1. With the final set tied at two, the Auburn redshirt sophomore earned two breaks and held to 15 in the final game to win the match 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and clinch the team win for the Tigers.

Auburn took the momentum from the first match of the day into the nightcap against Tennessee State, winning the doubles matches on courts one and three quickly to pick up the doubles point.

In singles against Tennessee State, Heng won his second singles match of the day over Nicholas Adamec 6-1, 6-1. The win improved his singles record to 15-9 overall and 8-2 in dual matches.

Freshman Mats Bredschneijder made the most of his singles appearance on Sunday against Tennessee State, winning in straight sets. After cursing through the first set 6-0, Bredschneijder won three straight games to close out his match against Alexander Adamec and win 6-0, 6-3.

Phillips recorded his third win of the day to cap off the evening at the No. 3 singles position, where he defeated Tatenda Mutetwa 6-2, 6-2 for his eighth overall singles win of the season.

The two wins improves Auburn’s record to 10-4 and the win over Georgia improves its conference record to 2-2. Up next, the Tigers will make their Texas swing with two matches on Thursday and Saturday. Auburn will face Texas A&M on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT in College Station as well as Texas at 1 p.m. CT in Austin.

 

#45 Auburn 4, #59 Georgia 1

Singles Results:

  1. #124 Will Nolan (AUB) vs. #38 Miguel Perez Pena (UGA) 4-6, 6-1, 3-5, unfinished
  2. #112 Alex Frusina (AUB) vs. #46 Ryan Colby (UGA) 7-5, 4-6, 4-1, unfinished
  3. #20 Thomas Paulsell (UGA) def. Billy Blaydes (AUB) 5-7, 4-6
  4. Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Oscar Pinto Sansano (UGA) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
  5. Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Niels Ratiu (UGA) 7-6 (2), 6-3
  6. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Gabriele Vulpitta (UGA) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2

Doubles Results:

  1. #9 Will Nolan/Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Thomas Paulsell/Oscar Pinto Sansano (UGA) 6-4
  2. Alex Frusina/Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Ryan Colby/Niels Ratiu (UGA) 7-6 (3)
  3. Miguel Perez Pina/Gabriele Vulpitta (UGA) def. Nicholas Heng/Thomas Kennedy (AUB) 6-4

 

Time of match: 3:06; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 3,5,4,6; Official: Donna Jerome

 

#45 Auburn 4, Tennessee State 0

Singles Results:

  1. Billy Blaydes (AUB) vs.  Jonasz Dziopak (TNST) 6-4, 1-0, unfinished
  2. Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) vs. Taj Hibbert (TNST) 6-3, 4-3, unfinished
  3. Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Tatenda Mutetwa (TNST) 6-2, 6-2
  4. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Nicholas Adamec (TNST) 6-1, 6-1
  5. Mats Bredschneijder (AUB) def. Alexander Adamec (TNST) 6-0, 6-3
  6. Thomas Kennedy (AUB) vs.  James Adler Germinal (TNST) 6-2, 5-3

Doubles Results:

  1. #9 Will Nolan/Billy Blaydes def. Taj Hibbert/Rohan Loubser (TNST) 6-2
  2. Alex Frusina/Joey Phillips vs. James Adler Germinal/Tatenda Mutetwa 5-5, unfinished
  3. Mats Bredschneijder/Jake Kennedy (AUB) def. Jonasz Dziopak/Nicholas Adamec (TNST) 6-2

 

Time of match: 1:57; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3; Singles: 4,5,3; Official: Donna Jerome