Auburn defeats Kentucky 4-3, advances to SEC Championship quarterfinals

SEC Championship Central
Auburn defeats Kentucky 4-3, advances to SEC Championship quarterfinalsAuburn defeats Kentucky 4-3, advances to SEC Championship quarterfinals
South Carolina Athletics

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Men’s tennis won a thrilling match over Kentucky by a 4-3 score in its first match of the SEC Championship on Thursday afternoon at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, South Carolina. With the victory, the Tigers advance to the quarterfinals of the event and will face No. 4 Texas at 1 p.m. CT.

Auburn started the match with a fresh-looking doubles lineup with new pairings at the top two positions. At the No. 2 doubles position, Texas and Auburn traded breaks leading to a tie at four. Auburn’s Billy Blaydes and Joey Phillips then held to love before earning a break on a deciding point in the final game to win 6-4. On court three, Auburn’s Jake Kennedy and Hamza Nasridinov took an early 3-1 lead over Texas’ Antoine Ghibaudo and Jaden Weekes and ultimately won the match 6-4 to claim the doubles point for the Tigers.

Auburn then began singles by claiming the first set on three courts.

Blaydes earned two early breaks to begin his match against No. 86 Jaden Weekes to take a 4-1 lead before claiming the opening set 6-2. Blaydes continued to dominate in the second set, turning a 3-1 set lead into a 6-3 victory. The win extends the Auburn junior’s singles winning streak to 10 matches. Moments later, Texas claimed a straight set wins at the No. 1 and No. 4 positions to tie the match at two.

Auburn’s No. 68 Alex Frusina and Texas’ No. 57 Jack Loutit both held serve in their first set on court two until Frusina earned a break to take a 4-2 advantage and went on to claim the set 6-3. The Auburn freshman then took a 5-3 lead in the second set before Loutit fought back to tie it at five. Frusina then earned a break in the next game and held to love in the final game of the match to finish off a 6-3, 7-5 victory. The win marked the 20th of the season for Frusina and gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

Texas’ Eli Stephenson then defeated Auburn’s Nicholas Heng in three sets to tie the match again at three with only the match at the No. 6 singles position remaining.

On court six, Phillips won his opening set over Matthrew Rankin 6-4 before Rankin won the next set by the same score. The Auburn freshman then caught fire, winning each of the first five games of the third set, including two games on a deciding point. Rankin won the next two matches, but Phillips won the next on a deciding point to clinch the team victory for the Tigers.

Auburn has advanced to the SEC Championship quarterfinal round and will face No. 4 Texas, the 1-seed, at 1 p.m. CT on Friday. If the Tigers win that match, they will advance to the semifinal match at 11 p.m. CT on Saturday. The final will be played at 3 p.m. CT on Sunday.

The SEC Championship semifinals will be televised on SEC Network + while the final will be televised on SEC Network. All other matches will be streaming at GamecocksOnline.com and live scoring of each match during the event will also be available at GamecocksOnline.com.

 

 

#33 Auburn 4, #30 Kentucky 3

Singles Results:

  1. #48 Antoine Ghibaudo (UK-M) def. Willl Nolan (AUB-M) 6-2, 6-3
  2. #68 Alex Frusina (AUB-M) def. #57 Jack Loutit (UK-M) 6-3, 7-5
  3. Billy Blaydes (AUB-M) def. #86 Jaden Weekes (UK-M) 6-2, 6-3
  4. Charlelie Cosnet (UK-M) def. Hamza Nasridinov (AUB-M) 6-2, 6-3
  5. Eli Stephenson (UK-M) def. Nicholas Heng (AUB-M) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
  6. Joey Phillips (AUB-M) def. Matt Rankin (UK-M) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

Doubles Results:

  1. Willl Nolan/Alex Frusina (AUB-M) vs. #14 Eli Stephenson/Jack Loutit (UK-M) 5-4, unfinished
  2. Billy Blaydes/Joey Phillips (AUB-M) def. Martin Breysach/Charlelie Cosnet (UK-M) 6-4
  3. Jake Kennedy/Hamza Nasridinov (AUB-M) def. Antoine Ghibaudo/Jaden Weekes (UK-M) 6-4

 

Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2; Singles: 3,1,4,2,5,6