No. 22 Men’s tennis downs Santa Clara in NCAA Round of 64 match

No. 22 Men’s tennis downs Santa Clara in NCAA Round of 64 matchNo. 22 Men’s tennis downs Santa Clara in NCAA Round of 64 match

WACO, Texas – No. 22 Auburn men’s tennis advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship on Friday evening after defeating Santa Clara 4-3 at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. With the match tied at three, Auburn freshman Manel Lazaro finished a three-set victory at the No. 6 singles position to deliver the win for the Tigers.

“The NCAA Tournament is about surviving and advancing because it’s do or die every time you step out there,” Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. “I thought the guys did a great job in doubles. Billy and Freddy (Blaydes) got on top of them early and we had a lot of opportunities to get a quick set at No. 2, but credit to Santa Clara for fighting.

“Same thing held true in the singles. We had a couple first sets and we had a couple first sets, then they came back on No. 5 and we came back on No. 6. Credit to these guys, we had a lot of nerves that we needed to shake off. I’m excited to have another chance tomorrow to play outside with nothing to lose. That’s the message to these guys, that we have everything to gain and nothing to lose.”

In doubles, Auburn’s Billy and Freddy Blaydes claimed a win on the top court, while Santa Clara’s Valentin Faure and Ferran Redza won 6-3 on court three. At the No. 2 position, the Auburn pair of Nicholas Heng and Joey Phillips were tied 5-5 before winning the final two games to clinch the doubles point for the Tigers.

Auburn opened singles with first-set wins from Heng, Lazaro and Hamza Nasridinov.

At the No. 3 position, Heng closed out his opening set over John Kim 6-1 with four straight games. He then won three straight games to open the second set before Kim tied it at 3-3. Leading 5-4, Heng earned a break on a deciding point to win the match 6-1, 6-4 and give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

Nasridinov turned an early 3-1 advantage into a 6-4 first-set win over Alexander Eriksson on the top singles court. The Auburn sophomore carried that momentum into the second set, closing out a 6-4, 6-4 victory to improve his singles record to 26-8 overall this season and 12-6 in dual matches. The win gave Auburn a 3-0 advantage.

Santa Clara then responded with two straight-set victories at the No. 4 and No. 2 positions to cut the Tigers’ lead to 3-2.

At the No. 5 position, Auburn’s Alan Bojarski and Santa Clara’s Valentin Faure went back and forth early in the opening set before Bojarski pulled away late to win 6-4. Faure responded with a 6-3 second-set win to force a third set. In the third, the Auburn freshman built a 5-3 lead, but Faure came back to force a tiebreaker and later claimed the match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) to tie the score at 3-3.

Lazaro and Redza were tied 4-4 in the first set before Redza pulled away to win 7-5. Lazaro responded by building a 4-1 lead in the second set and ultimately winning it 6-4 to force a decisive third set. The Auburn freshman then pulled out a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win to clinch the team victory and begin the celebration on court six.

The win improved Auburn’s record to 17-10 overall this season and snapped a two-match skid. The Tigers have now reached the second round of the NCAA Championship for the third consecutive season.

Up next, Auburn will face the No. 11 Baylor in the NCAA Championship round of 32 on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. CT. Coverage of the match from the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, will be available at BaylorBears.com.

 

#22 Auburn 4, #36 Santa Clara 3

Singles Results:

  1. #22 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Alexander W Eriksson (SCU) 6-3, 6-3
  2. Luca Lemaitre (SCU) def. #78 Billy Blaydes (AUB) 6-4, 6-4
  3. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. John Kim (SCU) 6-1, 6-4
  4. Lukas Maskow (SCU) def. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) 6-2, 7-5
  5. Valentin Faure (SCU) def. Alan Bojarski (AUB) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
  6. Manel Lazaro (AUB) def. Ferran Redza (SCU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

Doubles Results:

1.#11 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. #74 Luca Bluett/John Kim (SCU) 6-2

  1. Nicholas Heng/Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Tiago Boschmans/Luca Lemaitre (SCU) 7-5
  2. Valentin Faure/Ferran Redza (SCU) def. Jake Kennedy/Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) 6-3

 

Time of match: 3:20 Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 3,1,4,2,5,6