TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Auburn men’s tennis wrapped up competition Sunday at both the Crimson Tide Fall Challenge in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the CCB Collegiate Invitational in Birmingham, Alabama. The Tigers went undefeated in all three hidden dual matches in Tuscaloosa, while sophomore Joey Phillips finished third in his singles flight in Birmingham.
"We had a good weekend overall," Auburn assistant coach Raul Dobai said about the players in Tuscaloosa. "I think our guys are finding their rhythem and identity in singles, which showed in our results as we won eight of our nine matches. We need to do some work on our doubles when we get back, but I am confident we can get our guys back on track as we have historically been a strong doubles team."
On Friday at the Crimson Tide Fall Challenge, Columbia took an early advantage by winning both doubles matches, but the Tigers responded with three singles victories to claim the overall tiebreaker. Billy Blaydes defeated Thanaphat Boosarawongse in three sets, Hamza Nasridinov bested Abhishek Thorat in straight sets, and Freddy Blaydes downed Andrew Ena to secure the team win.
Auburn followed with another victory on Saturday against Louisville, again prevailing in a tiebreaker. Nasridinov defeated Hamza El Amine 6-3, 6-2, while Freddy Blaydes rallied from an opening-set loss to defeat Louis Chusseau.
The Tigers capped the weekend with a 3-1 win over Florida State on Sunday. After the Seminoles took the doubles point, Auburn answered with singles victories from both Blaydes brothers and Nasridinov.
“Overall, a weekend of ups and downs,” Auburn assistant coach Trey Morris said about Phillips’ play in Birmingham. “Holistically, probably not to our standard, but there were still some bright spots with Joey finishing third in the entire event. Joey is constantly looking to better himself and understands that he needs to continue to polish his game. This weekend really highlighted that with some of the adjustments he made, and I’m excited to see how he takes that feedback moving forward.”
At the Country Club of Birmingham, Phillips won two of his four matches. He opened with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Kennesaw State’s Dominic Ducariu to reach the semifinals in his draw, where he fell to South Alabama’s Juan Accossatto. Phillips then bounced back with a straight-set victory over UAB’s Conor Flynn to claim third place.
Up next, Auburn players will vie for bids to the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships at the ITA South Sectional Championships, held Nov. 6-9 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.
Friday results:
Thanaphat Boosarawongse/Aditya Govila (COL) def. #20 Freddy Blaydes/Billy Blaydes (AUB) 6-3
Abhishek Thorat/Andrew Ena (COL) def. Hamza Nasridinov/Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-1
Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL) 7-6 (7), 1-6, 6-3
Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Abhishek Thorat (COL) 6-3, 6-3
Aditya Govila (COL) def. Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-3, ret.
Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Andrew Ena (COL) 3-6, 7-5, 7-5
Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Dominic Ducariu (KSU) 7-5, 6-1
Saturday Results:
Walid Ahouda/Hamza El Amine (LOU) def. #20 Freddy Blaydes/Billy Blaydes (AUB) 6-2
Walid Ahouda (LOU) def. Billy Blaydes (AUB) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Hamza El Amine (LOU) 6-3, 6-2
Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Louis Chusseau (LOU) 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-4
Justin Lyons/Azariah Rusher (FSU) def. #20 Freddy Blaydes/Billy Blaydes (AUB) 6-4
Juan Accossatto (USA) def. Joey Phillips (AUB) 6-1, 6-2
Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Conor Flynn (UAB) 6-2, 6-4
Sunday Results:
Lukas Dvorak (SAM) def. Joey Phillips (AUB) 6-3, 6-1
Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Justin Lyons (FSU) 6-1, 6-3
Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Azariah Rusher (FSU) 5-7, 6-3, [10-4]
Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Oren Ezerzer (FSU) 6-3, 6-3