MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Men's tennis picked up a 4-2 win over Middle Tennessee during the first round of the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic at Lagoon Park in Montgomery, Alabama, on Friday. The Tigers also began the second round, dropping the doubles point to No. 21 Michigan State in a match that will be resumed on Saturday.
"Credit to our guys for coming back out and playing some pretty good tennis up and down the courts," said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. "We just played Middle Tennessee on Sunday so we saw a lot of the same matchups. We get a lot of fans and support here so we love coming to Montgomery and a lot of the time our best tennis comes out here."
The first round set the tone early. Middle Tennessee earned a quick win on court one, but Auburn's Alejandro Moreno and Billy Blaydes responded with a 6-2 win over Javier Cueto Ramos and Shu Matsuoka on court two. With the match tied at four, big serves from Will Nolan gave he and Tyler Stice a 5-4 advantage on court three. Middle Tennessee's Marcel Kamrowski and Karim Al-Amin then won the next three games to claim the doubles point.
Finn Murgett won his seventh consecutive singles match on court three in dominant fashion, defeating Ondrej Horak 6-1, 6-2 to even the team score. Moments later, Tyler Stice defeated No. 33 Leo Raquin for the second time since Sunday, winning 6-0, 6-4. Auburn appeared to be in the driver's seat in the match after Billy Blaydes' pulled off a straight set win on court five including a dominant second set to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
Middle Tennessee earned their first singles match of the day on court two and cut its deficit to 3-2 with both remaining matches headed to a third set. After dropping his first set, redshirt freshman Nicholas Heng bounced back by winning the next two sets and clinching the dramatic team victory for the Tigers. The win marks Heng's sixth dual singles victory of the season.
Nicholas Heng gets it done on court six and the Tigers are moving on at Blue-Gray 🛞#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/8XQ0vcF2fe
— Auburn Men's Tennis (@AuburnMTennis) February 23, 2024
Auburn has now defeated the Blue Raiders in each of the last three meetings, which were at last season's Blue-Gray Classic and on Sunday at Yarbrough Tennis Center.
The Tigers began their second match against Michigan State on Friday evening. After a win on court three, both remaining courts came from behind to force tiebreakers in each respective match. Just when it seemed the momentum was shifting to Auburn's side, Michigan State claimed the tiebreaker on both courts to pick up the doubles point.
Auburn will resume its match against the Spartans on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. CT at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center, then will play the final round of the event later in the day. Live scoring of both matches will be available online at bluegraytennis.com.
#48 Auburn 4, #27 Middle Tennessee 2
Singles Results:
1. #44 Tyler Stice (AUB) def. #33 Leo Raquin (MTSU) 6-0, 6-4
2. #107 Marcel Kamrowski (MTSU) def. Raul Dobai (AUB) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Ondrej Horak (MTSU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Alejandro Moreno (AUB) vs. Demis Taramonlis (MTSU) 7-5, 4-6, unfinished
5. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Shu Matsuoka (MTSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Karim Al-Amin (MTSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Results:
1. Leo Raquin/Ondrej Horak (MTSU) def. Raul Dobai/Finn Murgett (AUB) 6-1
2. Billy Blaydes/Alejandro Moreno (AUB) def. Javier Cueto Ramos/Shu Matsuoka (MTSU) 6-2
3. Marcel Kamrowski/Karim Al-Amin (MTSU) def. Tyler Stice/Will Nolan (AUB) 7-5
Order of Finish: Doubles: 1,2,3; Singles: 3,1,5,2,6