AUBURN, Ala. – Jordan Szabo will make his head coaching debut at the Yarbrough Tennis Center on Saturday, as the first-year coach will lead the Tigers in their first dual matches of the season at home against North Alabama and UAB. Auburn will then conclude Martin Luther King Jr. weekend with a doubleheader against Western Carolina on Monday.
“We’ve had a few days of preseason practice getting ready for the season and I think this is the fun part of the year,” said Coach Szabo. “For the girls and for us as coaches, this is what we have prepared for. I think we’re expecting to just ride the bumps, take it one match at a time be where our feet are and do our best every single day. I think the goal every year is to overachieve based on the cards that you’re delt and we’re trying to prepare to go all the way.”
Auburn will play its first team event of the season after an eventful fall that included a sweep of the ITA Regional Championships and three Tigers earning All-American honors at the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships.
DJ Bennett catapulted to the highest ITA singles ranking that an Auburn player has achieved after reaching the NCAA Singles Championship finals, coming in at No. 2 in the final rankings of the fall. Freshman Merna Refaat, graduate student Ava Hrastar and junior Angella Okutoyi were also featured in the final singles rankings of the fall season at No. 22, No. 69 and No. 110, respectively.
Bennett and Hrastar also became the first doubles team to reach the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship in November and will begin the season 16th in the ITA doubles rankings.
The Tigers have a lot to defend during the 2025 campaign, as the team has finished the season ranked in the ITA top-25, been ranked as the best team in the ITA Southern Region and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons.
In 2024, North Alabama posted a 15-8 overall record, UAB finished its season 13-11 and Western Carolina went 9-14.
Auburn and North Alabama will kick off the season on Saturday at noon CT before the Tigers and Blazers face off at 4:30 p.m. Fans in attendance will receive fans featuring both the men’s and women’s tennis schedules while supplies last. On Monday, Auburn and Western Carolina will begin the day with the first match of the doubleheader at 10 a.m. with the second match scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. Warm drinks and donuts will be given to fans at the Yarbrough Tennis Center while supplies last.
Attendance to all matches at the Yarbrough Tennis Center is free. All matches will be played on the facility’s outdoor courts if weather permits. Live streaming video and live scoring of each match will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.