AUBURN, Ala. – For the second consecutive season, Auburn women’s tennis will host the ITA Southern Regional Championships this week at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama. A singles and doubles champion will be crowned, with bids to the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships on the line.
Last season, the Tigers dominated the Southern Regional, claiming all four singles semifinalist spots and both doubles finalist teams. Merna Refaat captured the singles title, while DJ Bennett and Ava Hrastar claimed the doubles championship.
The two singles finalists at this year’s ITA Southern Regional Championships will earn bids to the NCAA Singles Championship, and the doubles champions will advance to the NCAA Doubles Championship. Both national events are scheduled for Nov. 18-23 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
In singles, Auburn’s Merna Refaat, Natalie Outcalt, Alice Battesti, Ava Esposito, Ekaterina Khayrutdinova and Ashton Bowers will each begin play in the main draw. The Tigers’ doubles pairings include Esposito and Khayrutdinova, Bowers and Refaat, and Battesti and Outcalt.
Both rounds of singles qualifying and the opening round of doubles will kick off the event on Monday. The first two rounds of main draw singles as well as the second round of doubles will take place on Tuesday, followed by the singles round of 16 and the next two rounds of doubles on Wednesday. The singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals will be held Thursday while the final two rounds of singles and doubles finals will be held Friday.
Attendance to all days of the championships at the Yarbrough Tennis Center will be free. Live video of select matches will be available at AuburnTigers.com and live results will be available at wearecollegetennis.com.
