AUBURN, Ala. – No. 19 Auburn men’s tennis will conclude the 2026 regular season on the road this weekend, facing No. 25 Ole Miss on Friday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in Oxford, Miss., before battling No. 13 Georgia on Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
“I think the biggest thing going forward and for the rest of the year is taking the opportunities that we have. We’re playing some great tennis, and we’re playing at a high level 95-97% of the time, but it’s those small dips mentally, emotionally or in confidence against these top teams that have proven to be the difference in the end. I told the guys we have to take confidence in where we’re playing as a team and how much better we have gotten on the court, and now it’s just a matter of if we can sustain it.
“Both of these teams we have not seen a lot of. Ole Miss is playing four new guys in their lineup of six, and we haven’t crossed paths with a lot of them in the fall. Some of the guys are midyear additions, so I’m hoping to take advantage of some of those freshman or first-year jitters.”
Auburn will look to bounce back from back-to-back losses last week to No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 2 Texas. The Tigers will enter Friday’s match with a 15-8 overall record and a 5-7 mark in conference play. The team is currently tied for eighth place in the SEC standings with Ole Miss, Kentucky and Florida.
Auburn sophomore Hamza Nasridinov moved up to No. 23 in the latest ITA singles rankings released on Tuesday. Nasridinov has been a regular at the top of the Auburn singles lineup this season with a 10-6 dual-match record and a 6-4 record in SEC matches.
Ole Miss will enter Friday’s match with a 17-7 overall record and a 5-7 SEC record. The Rebels are coming off a split weekend at home, dropping a match to No. 2 Texas on Thursday before bouncing back with a 4-0 win over Tennessee on Saturday. Ole Miss has two ranked wins this season against then-No. 11 Vanderbilt and then-No. 14 South Carolina. The Rebels lead the all-time series 35-32, but Auburn has won each of the last four meetings, including a 4-3 win at the Yarbrough Tennis Center last year.
Georgia currently holds a 15-7 overall record and a 7-5 record in conference play. The Bulldogs have lost two of their last three matches to No. 15 Oklahoma on Mar. 27 and Kentucky on April 4. Georgia leads the all-time series over Auburn 59-5, with Auburn entering the matchup with two straight wins over the Bulldogs. In 2024, Auburn defeated Georgia in Athens for the first time since 1994.
Live video and live scoring of Friday’s match will be available at OleMissSports.com, while coverage of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry on Sunday will be available at GeorgiaDogs.com.
Auburn in the rankings (ITA)
Singles:
23 – Hamza Nasridinov
66 – Billy Blaydes
Doubles: