AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn is set to finish its regular season in the state of Louisiana this weekend against Tulane on Friday at 1 p.m. CT in New Orleans before facing LSU at noon CT in Baton Rouge.
“Going into Louisiana, we’ll have to get used to the humidity and the other outside factors of the area,” said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. “The Friday match against Tulane will give us a bit of a warm up before going into Sunday. I think we’ve done a much better job in the past couple of weeks in the doubles, but I’d like to see our guys go into singles with their head down and ready to get on top of them early.”
The Tigers will enter the weekend with a 16-9 overall record and a 6-7 record in the SEC. Auburn is currently ninth in the SEC standings with one conference match remaining. Seeds five through 11 will receive a first-round bye at the SEC Championship in Columbia, South Carolina.
Despite the two team losses, Auburn freshman Hamza Nasridinov had an impressive weekend on the road for the Tigers with a couple of singles victories at the No. 4 singles position.
On Thursday, Nasridinov overcame a 4-3 deficit in the opening set to Alabama’s Andrii Zimnokh to win it 6-4 by claiming three consecutive games. The Auburn freshman ultimately won the second set to claim a 6-4, 6-4 victory and extend the lead for the Tigers 3-1 at the time. Against Mississippi State on Saturday, Nasridinov split the first two sets with Dusan Milanovic and won the 10-point tiebreaker to claim the match.
Tulane will enter Friday’s match with a 5-15 overall record and a 1-6 mark in the American Athletic Conference. The Green Wave have lost each of their last seven matches and hold a 3-5 record at home. Friday will mark the 12th meeting between Auburn and Tulane.
Auburn leads the all-time series 6-5. The last meeting between the two squads was during the 2023 regular season, when No. 41 Tulane upset No. 15 Auburn 4-1 in New Orleans. Auburn and Tulane faced off twice during the 2022 season and the Tigers won both matches - the first a 4-0 win at the Blue-Gray National Team Championship and the second a 6-1 home victory.
LSU enters the weekend with a 10-15 overall record and a winless 0-12 record in SEC matches. After hosting Alabama on Friday, the Tigers will host Auburn on Sunday. LSU has lost each of its last three matches, but holds a 9-5 record at the LSU Tennis Complex.
Live television coverage of Friday afternoon’s match will be available on ESPN+ while live scoring will be available at ioncourt.com. LSUSports.net will provide live video and live scoring of Sunday’s match.