AUBURN, Ala. – No. 19 Auburn men’s tennis claimed the Iron Bowl of Tennis on Sunday afternoon, defeating rival Alabama by a 4-0 final score. The match was moved indoors due to rain shortly after starting, and the Tigers claimed an intense doubles point before winning three straight-set singles matches to earn the victory.
“I think that doubles point was huge,” Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said after the match. “I think we came out a little slow on court one, but it was nice to turn around and see No. 2 and No. 3 playing with that aggression. Especially indoors, you have to try to get downhill and play aggressive doubles. It was huge for us to get the doubles point and settle in.
“From a momentum standpoint, getting those singles tiebreakers really put us over the edge and gave us six first sets. We keep harping that in big moments, you have to make sure you’re constructing the point how you want it to play out and then be okay with the execution if it’s not there for that point.”
Alabama started the doubles point with a 6-4 win on the top doubles court, forcing Auburn to win the other two courts. At the No. 3 doubles position, Auburn’s Jake Kennedy and Hamza Nasridinov went back-and-forth with Alabama’s Rohan Hazratwala and Brendan Loh, leading to a tiebreak. The Auburn duo prevailed in the tight tiebreak 10-8.
With the match tied at five at the No. 2 position, the Auburn pair of Nicholas Heng and Joey Phillips lost a break to Alabama’s Jacob Olar and Matic Kriznik on a deciding point, but earned a break in the next game to force a tiebreak. Heng and Phillips dominated the tiebreak, winning 7-4 to excite the crowd and clinch the doubles point.
An INCREDIBLE doubles point 🤩
— Auburn Men's Tennis (@AuburnMTennis) March 8, 2026
Auburn claims the point with tiebreaker wins on courts two and three! #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/dB8gDhj10t
Auburn did not let go of the momentum from the doubles point leading into singles, winning the first set on all six courts, including three in tiebreakers.
Manel Lazaro set the tone for the Tigers at the No. 6 position, serving a bagel in the first set against Hazratwala and ultimately winning 6-0, 6-3 to give Auburn a quick 2-0 lead in the match. The Auburn freshman is now 11-2 in dual matches this season and 2-1 in conference matches.
Leading the opening set 4-3, Heng won two straight games over Matic Kriznik to win the first set, then cruised through the second set to win 6-3, 6-0 to earn a ranked victory over the 75th-ranked singles player in the nation. The win improved Heng’s dual-match singles record to 9-3 this season and gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
At the No. 4 singles position, Auburn’s Freddy Blaydes dominated his first set against Alabama’s Yoshka Sborowsky, winning 6-1. Sborowsky showed more life in the second set, forcing Blaydes into a second-set tiebreak. The two traded points throughout the breaker, with the Auburn junior eventually prevailing 11-9 to deliver the team victory for the Tigers.
The win marks the second victory over the Crimson Tide this season, as Auburn defeated them 4-1 during ITA Kickoff Weekend in Starkville, Mississippi, in January. Auburn improves to 13-2 overall this season and 2-1 in conference play. The Tigers have also won each of their last three contests.
“This one for me means a lot, being the only guy on either team from the state of Alabama, and it’s one I’ve always wanted to win,” Heng, a Madison, Alabama, native, said after the victory. “To be able to come out and get a 6-3, 6-0 win, clinch the doubles point, to do it in my senior year at home and to beat Alabama twice this year has meant a lot to me.”
Auburn will spend the next two weekends on the road, starting with a match on Friday at 1 p.m. CT against No. 11 Vanderbilt in Nashville.
#19 Auburn 4, #70 Alabama 0
Singles Results:
- #33 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) vs. Vit Kalina (UA) 7-6 (7-4), 4-2, unfinished
- #61 Billy Blaydes (AUB) vs. Andrii Zimnokh (UA) 7-6 (7-5), 4-2, unfinished
- Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. #75 Matic Kriznik (UA) 6-3, 6-0
- Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Yoshka Sborowsky (UA) 6-1, 7-6 (11-9)
- Alan Bojarski (AUB) vs. Carlos Gimenez Perez (UA) 7-6 (7-2), 1-1, unfinished
- Manel Lazaro (AUB) def. Rohan Hazratwala (UA) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles Results:
- Vit Kalina/Andrii Zimnokh (UA) def. #25 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) 6-4
- Nicholas Heng/Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Jacob Olar/Matic Kriznik (UA) 7-6 (7-4)
- Jake Kennedy/Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Rohan Hazratwala/Brendan Loh (UA) 7-6 (10-8)
Time of match: 3:14 Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 6,3,4 Official: Donna Jerome