WACO, Texas – No. 22 Auburn men’s tennis dropped its NCAA Championship second-round match to No. 11 Baylor 4-1 Saturday evening at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. The loss ends the Tigers’ season with a 17-11 overall record and a second trip to the NCAA round of 32 in as many seasons.
On the top doubles court, Auburn’s Billy and Freddy Blaydes continued to go back and forth with Baylor’s Alexandru Chirita and Zsombor Velcz. Leading 4-3, Chirita and Velcz won each of the next two games to take the match 6-3. The Bears also secured the match at the No. 3 position by the same score to claim the doubles point.
Baylor carried its momentum from doubles into singles play, claiming the opening set in five of the six matches.
The Bears later converted first-set wins into straight-set victories at the No. 5 and No. 1 positions to build a 3-0 lead.
At the No. 2 position, Billy Blaydes jumped out to a 4-2 first-set lead over Zsombor Velcz before closing it out 6-3. Blaydes earned a break in the second set to take a 4-2 lead, then won the match 6-3, 6-4 to finish his Auburn career with a singles victory and cut the deficit to 3-1.
Blaydes finished the season 20-17 overall in singles and completed his time on the Plains tied for the sixth-most career singles victories with 87. He is also tied for sixth in program history in career doubles wins with 79.
Chirita picked up a 6-2 first-set win over Freddy Blaydes, but Blaydes fought back in the second set. With the set tied at 2-2, the Auburn junior won each of the next two games to take a 4-2 lead, but Chirita came back to claim the set 7-5 and clinch the team victory for Baylor.
With the win, Baylor advances to the NCAA super regional and will host Pepperdine.
This season, Auburn earned a bid to the NCAA Championship for the 25th time in program history and the fifth consecutive season. The team finished with a 17-11 overall record that included five wins over top-25 opponents. Auburn reached a season-high ITA National Team Ranking of No. 14 on March 17 and has remained inside the top 25 every week since Feb. 24.
#11 Baylor 4, #22 Auburn 1
Singles Results:
- #10 Devin Badenhorst (BU) def. #22 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) 6-3 6-4
- #78 Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. #51 Zsombor Velcz (BU) 6-3 6-4
- #53 Connor Van Schalkwyk (BU) vs. Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-3 4-6, unfinished
- Alexandru Chirita (BU) def. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) 6-2 7-5
- Luc Koenig (BU) def. Alan Bojarski (AUB) 6-3 6-2
- Louis Bowden (BU) vs. Manel Lazaro (AUB) 6-1 4-3, unfinished
Doubles Results:
- #69 Alexandru Chirita/Zsombor Velcz (BU) def. #11 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) 6-3
- #89 Luc Koenig/Connor Van Schalkwyk (BU) vs. Nicholas Heng/Joey Phillips (AUB) 6-5, unfinished
- Devin Badenhorst/Calvin Baierl (BU) def. Jake Kennedy/Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) 6-3