AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn sophomore Hamza Nasridinov has been tabbed SEC Player of the Week, the conference office announced Wednesday. The sophomore becomes the first Auburn player to earn the honor this season.
Nasridinov picked up two singles victories over top-30 opponents over the weekend, defeating No. 29 Olaf Pieczkowski of LSU in a match-clinching win as well as No. 15 Lucas da Silva of South Carolina.
On Friday, an early break helped Nasridinov build a 3-1 lead in the first set against Pieczkowski on the top singles court. The Auburn sophomore later earned another break on a deciding point to go up 5-2 and closed out the set 6-2. Nasridinov then jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set and went on to win 6-2, 6-2 to clinch Auburn’s upset victory over seventh-ranked LSU.
On Sunday, Nasridinov and South Carolina’s Lucas da Silva traded games early before Nasridinov built a 4-2 lead. Leading 5-4, the Auburn sophomore won a deciding point to take the set 6-4. Nasridinov jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set before da Silva rallied to tie it at 5. The set went to a tiebreak, which Nasridinov won 7-0 to secure the victory over the 15th-ranked player in the nation and cut South Carolina’s lead to 3-2 at the time.
Additionally, Nasridinov and doubles partner Jake Kennedy clinched the doubles point in Auburn’s win over LSU, defeating Rudy Ceccon and Olaf Pieczkowski 6-2 at the No. 3 position.
The honor marks the first conference honor of Nasridinov’s career.