AUBURN, Ala. – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association has ranked Auburn senior DJ Bennett as the No. 1 singles player in the nation in its preseason player rankings that were released on Tuesday. Bennett becomes the first player in program history to achieve the top rankings spot.
“For DJ to be ranked No. 1 is a true testament to her growth as a player over her time at Auburn and her status as one of the elite college tennis players,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “To have six singles players and three doubles teams ranked is a sign of what’s possible this year and we are excited to grow on this.”
At the 2024-25 NCAA Singles Championship, Bennett became the second player in program history to reach the finals of the event and was part of the second Auburn doubles team to reach the semifinal round of the NCAA Doubles Championship. The Belleview, Florida, native picked up both singles and doubles All-America honors through her performance.
She went on to earn first team All-SEC honors this spring after posting a 27-10 overall singles record and a 15-6 mark in dual matches primarily at the top of the Tigers’ singles lineup. She remained inside the top five of the ITA singles rankings and the top 25 in doubles throughout the spring, finishing the season ranked No. 3 in singles and No. 11 in doubles.
Auburn is well represented in the preseason player rankings with six singles players and three doubles teams. In singles, Angella Okutoyi came is at No. 15, Merna Refaat at No. 33, Ashton Bowers at No. 48, Ekaterina Khayrutdinova at No. 66 and Eva Ionescu at No. 111.
In doubles, Bennett and Bowers earned the No. 3 ranking nationally, Okutoyi and Refaat cracked the top 10 at No. 8 and Khayrutdinova and Ava Esposito rank No. 28. Additionally, Ionescu was tabbed No. 13 in the newcomer rankings.