Men’s tennis downs Liberty, Alabama A&M in Saturday doubleheader

Liberty Box Score Alabama A&M Box Score
Men’s tennis downs Liberty, Alabama A&M in Saturday doubleheaderMen’s tennis downs Liberty, Alabama A&M in Saturday doubleheader
Bella Mauritz/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn men’s tennis moved to 4-0 overall this season with wins over Liberty and Alabama A&M on Saturday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The Tigers defeated Liberty 6-1 in the morning match before earning a 7-0 shutout over Alabama A&M in the afternoon.

“I thought early on in the first match we did a really good job of getting a lead,” Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. “We need to continue to grow and mature as we break and try to hold our serve. I felt that we gave some of the momentum back throughout the first match a couple of times. Another big thing is being able to close out matches and sets. We need to continue to make strides improving that and be ready for ITA Kickoff next week.”

Billy and Freddy Blaydes played together in doubles for the first time since the NCAA Doubles Championship in November and claimed a 6-3 victory on the top doubles court. The matches on the other two doubles courts remained tight in deciding the point. With the match tied at four games apiece, Auburn’s Joey Phillips and Nicholas Heng earned a crucial break on a deciding point, then held serve in the next game to clinch the doubles point for the Tigers.

Auburn sophomore Hamza Nasridinov closed out his first set over Carl Roothman with five consecutive games, then cruised through the second set to earn a 6-2, 6-1 victory and give Auburn a 2-0 lead. Nicholas Heng added another point with his third straight-set dual match victory of the season. In his first singles match at Auburn, Freddy Blaydes defeated Chase Robinson 6-4 in the opening set, then claimed each of the first three games of the second before closing out the straight-set victory to clinch the team win for the Tigers.

After the team victory was secured, Manel Lazaro earned a three-set win at the No. 6 position, while Joey Phillips picked up a win at No. 4 through a 10-point third-set tiebreaker.

The same two Auburn doubles teams that earned wins in the morning match set the tone in the afternoon contest against Alabama A&M, winning by scores of 6-1 and 6-2 to claim the doubles point.

Heng added another straight-set win at the No. 2 position, while Thomas Kennedy dominated at No. 6 singles to win 6-0, 6-1 and give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. At the No. 5 singles position, Lazaro dropped his first game of the opening set before winning 12 of the next 13 games to earn a convincing 6-2, 6-0 victory over Goran Krivokapic and clinch the match for Auburn.

After the team victory was clinched, Phillips, Billy Blaydes and Freddy Blaydes each closed out straight-set wins to complete the 7-0 shutout over the Bulldogs.

Auburn will return to action Sunday, facing Alabama A&M for the second consecutive day at 4 p.m. CT. Fans in attendance are encouraged to wear white, and Chick-fil-A gift cards will be raffled during the match. Live video and live scoring will be available at AuburnTigers.com. More fan information is available at AuburnTigers.com/MatchDay.

 

Auburn 6, Liberty 1

Singles Results:

  1. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. #36 Billy Blaydes (AUB) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (10-2)
  2. #40 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 6-1
  3. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 6-2
  4. Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Benjamin Sparks (LIBERTYM) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
  5. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) 6-4, 6-2
  6. Manel Lazaro (AUB) def. David Ekpenyong (LIBERTYM) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3

Doubles Results:

  1. #24 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Siwanat Auytayakul/Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) 6-3
  2. #49 Joey Phillips/Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. David Ekpenyong/Benjamin Sparks (LIBERTYM) 6-4
  3. Guy Vorwerk/R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. Jake Kennedy/Thomas Kennedy (AUB) 5-4

 

Time of match: 2:04 Order of finish: Doubles: 1,2; Singles: 2,3,5,6,4,1 Official: Donna Jerome

 

 

Auburn 7, Alabama A&M 0

Singles Results:

  1. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Arnav Pathange (AAMUM) 6-1, 6-4
  2. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Tasso Moreira (AAMUM) 6-2, 6-0
  3. Joey Phillips (AUB) def. E Andretta (AAMUM) 6-3, 6-3
  4. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Juwan Bae (AAMUM) 6-2, 6-4
  5. Manel Lazaro (AUB) def. Goran Krivokapic (AAMUM) 6-2, 6-0
  6. Thomas Kennedy (AUB) def. Agustin Marquez (AAMUM) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles Results:

  1. Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Goran Krivokapic/Arnav Pathange (AAMUM) 6-1
  2. Joey Phillips/Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Tasso Moreira/E Andretta (AAMUM) 6-2
  3. Thomas Kennedy/Manel Lazaro (AUB) def. Juwan Bae/Agustin Marquez (AAMUM) 4-3

 

Time of match: 2:03 Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1; Singles: 2,6,5,3,1,4 Official: Donna Jerome