Auburn upsets No. 15 Florida, defeats The Citadel in Saturday doubleheader

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Auburn upsets No. 15 Florida, defeats The Citadel in Saturday doubleheaderAuburn upsets No. 15 Florida, defeats The Citadel in Saturday doubleheader

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn men’s tennis swept a home doubleheader during SEC opening weekend Saturday, earning a 6-1 win over No. 15 Florida and a 7-0 shutout of The Citadel at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.

“I think people may take us lightly and we go under the radar, but over the last couple of weeks we have made some statements and opened some eyes to what we are capable of doing,” Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. “We’ve been putting in a lot of work, and credit to these guys, especially in doubles.

“The doubles point against Florida was electric, and that helped us get the crowd behind the guys. For us to get that doubles point, then go out and win four first sets in singles was tremendous. Our guys are battling hard and we’re playing some great tennis, so I’m excited about going 1-0 in the conference and looking forward to going to Tennessee next week.”

During doubles play against Florida, the Gators claimed the No. 3 position while Auburn won at No. 2, setting up a winner-take-all match on the top court. The Auburn duo of Billy and Freddy Blaydes faced match point while trailing 5-4 against Henry Jefferson and Lorenzo Claverie, but won the deciding point to extend the match. With the Blaydes brothers leading 6-5, Florida forced a tiebreaker before the Tiger duo prevailed 7-4 to clinch the doubles point.

Auburn carried the momentum into singles, winning the first set on four courts.

At the No. 3 singles position, Auburn’s Nicholas Heng took an early 3-1 lead in the first set over Claverie before claiming it 6-3. He opened the second set by winning three of the first four games and ultimately secured a 6-3, 6-3 victory for his 10th singles win of the season.

Auburn freshman Manel Lazaro continued his strong singles play this spring, winning three consecutive games to close out his opening set over Andreas Timmni 6-3 before earning a straight-set victory to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

On the top singles court, Florida’s Henry Jefferson and Auburn’s Hamza Nasridinov battled through a tight first set. With the set tied at 4-4, Nasridinov earned a break before holding serve to win the set 6-4. He took the second set by the same score to clinch the team victory for the Tigers.

After the team win was secured, Billy Blaydes won in three sets and Freddy Blaydes claimed a 10-point third-set tiebreaker to give Auburn the 6-1 victory.

Auburn carried its momentum into the second match of the day against The Citadel, winning 6-0 on two doubles courts to secure the doubles point.

Auburn freshman Alan Bojarski was the first to finish in singles, defeating Reece Beckendorf 6-1, 6-1 for his third dual-match singles win of the season. Freddy Blaydes then earned his second win of the day, 6-1, 6-3, and Billy Blaydes clinched the team victory with a straight-set win at the No. 2 position.

The Tigers added straight-set wins from Joey Phillips, Thomas Kennedy and Nasridinov to complete the 7-0 shutout.

The two victories improve Auburn’s record to 9-1 overall and 1-0 in SEC play. The Tigers remain unbeaten at home this season with a 7-0 mark. Auburn has now defeated Florida twice in the last three seasons and has trimmed the all-time series deficit to 46-17.

Up next, Auburn will travel to Knoxville to face Tennessee on Friday at 5 p.m. CT at the Goodfriend Tennis Center.

 

#30 Auburn 6, #15 Florida 1

Singles Results:

  1. #56 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. #29 Henry Jefferson (UF) 6-4, 6-4
  2. #86 Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. #41 Pablo Perez Ramos (UF) 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-2
  3. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Lorenzo Claverie (UF) 6-3, 6-3
  4. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 1-0 (10-8)
  5. Kevin Edengren (UF) def. Alan Bojarski (AUB) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 1-0 (10-2)
  6. #84 Manel Lazaro (AUB) def. Andreas Timini (UF) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles Results:

  1. #20 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. #89 Henry Jefferson/Lorenzo Claverie (UF) 7-6 (7-4)
  2. Joey Phillips/Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Pablo Perez Ramos/Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) 6-4
  3. Kevin Edengren/Andreas Timini (UF) def. Alan Bojarski/Jake Kennedy (AUB) 6-3

 

Time of match: 3:01 Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2,1; Singles: 3,6,1,2,5,4 Official: Donna Jerome

 

 

#30 Auburn 7, The Citadel 0

Singles Results:

  1. #56 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Noah Van Dyke (CIT) 6-3, 6-4
  2. #86 Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Brady Gober (CIT) 6-2, 6-2
  3. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Nick Stroumpis (CIT) 6-1, 6-3
  4. Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Ted Bagwell (CIT) 6-4, 6-1
  5. Alan Bojarski (AUB) def. Reece Beckendorf (CIT) 6-1, 6-1
  6. Thomas Kennedy (AUB) def. Graham Hardin (CIT) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles Results:

  1. Nicholas Heng/Joey Phillips (AUB) vs. Ted Bagwell/Brady Gober (CIT) 3-2, unfinished
  2. Hamza Nasridinov/Jake Kennedy (AUB) def. Nick Stroumpis/Noah Van Dyke (CIT) 6-0
  3. Thomas Kennedy/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Anthony Osipov/Reece Beckendorf (CIT) 6-0

 

Time of match: 2:45 Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2; Singles: 5,3,2,4,6,1 Official: Donna Jerome