STARKVILLE, Miss. – Auburn men’s tennis defeated rival Alabama on the first day of ITA Kickoff Weekend on Friday at the Rula Tennis Pavilion in Starkville, Mississippi. After dropping the doubles point and the opening set on each of the top four singles courts, the Tigers rallied to defeat the Crimson Tide by a 4-1 score.
“That was one of the grittiest wins I’ve been a part of,” Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said after the win. “We didn’t get the start we wanted. We lost the doubles point, then we were down four first sets in singles and our backs were absolutely against the wall. But what I’m most proud of is that nobody panicked and nobody flinched. This group believes in the work. They stayed present, competed point by point and trusted each other. We talked all week about resilience, about being comfortable being uncomfortable and today they showed exactly what that looks like.
“Beating Alabama in a moment like this, in a pressure environment, says a lot about the character of this team. They fought for every ball, lifted each other when things weren’t going our way and earned every point of that comeback.”
Alabama started strong in doubles play, winning three consecutive games to take a 6-3 victory on court one. The Crimson Tide duo of Vit Kalina and Matic Kriznik jumped out to a 3-1 lead on court three and went on to win 6-4 to clinch the doubles point.
Alabama appeared to be in control early in singles play, claiming the opening set on each of the top four courts. In his collegiate debut, Auburn’s Alan Bojarski took an early lead in his first set against Jacob Olar at the No. 5 singles position before closing out a 6-4 win. He then caught fire in the second set, serving a bagel to win in straight sets and tie the team score at 1-1.
The two Auburn freshmen in the singles lineup set the tone for the Tigers, as Manel Lazaro also earned a straight-set win on court six. Lazaro built a 5-2 lead in the second set against Rohan Hazratwala before closing out a 6-3, 6-4 victory to give Auburn its first lead of the match, 2-1.
Momentum continued to shift toward the Tigers as Hamza Nasridinov, Billy Blaydes, Nicholas Heng and Freddy Blaydes all forced decisive third sets. At the No. 4 position, Freddy Blaydes bounced back after dropping his opening set to Carlos Gimenez Perez 6-2, then did not drop a game in the second set. He carried that momentum into the third, winning 6-2 to move Auburn within one point of victory.
Freddy Blaydes gets the win in three sets 🏆
— Auburn Men's Tennis (@AuburnMTennis) January 23, 2026
Tigers lead the Tide 3️⃣-1️⃣#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/b9aWWCURmk
On the top singles court, Nasridinov rebounded from an opening-set loss to Andrii Zimnokh with a 6-3 second-set win. He then controlled the decisive third set to claim the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 and clinch the team victory for the Tigers.
With the win, Auburn advances to Saturday’s ITA Kickoff Weekend championship match, where it will face either Mississippi State or UCSB, not before 11 a.m. CT. The winner will qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, scheduled for Feb. 14–17 in Dallas, Texas. Auburn improved to 6-0 on the season, while Alabama fell to 2-1.
Live video and live scoring of Saturday’s match will be available at HailState.com.
Auburn 4, Alabama 1
Singles Results:
- #40 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Andrii Zimnokh (ALA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
- #27 Matic Kriznik (ALA) vs. #36 Billy Blaydes (AUB) 6-4, 3-6, 4-5, unfinished
- Vit Kalina (ALA) vs. Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-4, 3-6, 4-1, unfinished
- Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Carlos Gimenez Perez (ALA) 2-6, 6-0, 6-2
- Alan Bojarski (AUB) def. Jacob Olar (ALA) 6-3, 6-0
- Manel Lazaro (AUB) def. Rohan Hazratwala (ALA) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles Results:
- #12 Jacob Olar/Andrii Zimnokh (ALA) def. #24 Billy Blaydes/ Freddy Blaydes (AUB) 6-3
- #66 Vit Kalina/Matic Kriznik (ALA) vs. #49 Nicholas Heng/Joey Phillips (AUB) 5-3, unfinished
- Rohan Hazratwala/Gray Voelzke (ALA) def. Alan Bojarski/Jake Kennedy (AUB) 6-4
Time of match: 2:45 Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3; Singles: 5,6,4,1