Men’s tennis hits the road for the first time in 2023 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend

WINSTON-SALEM, NC- After opening the season with three home wins, No. 23 Auburn will put its undefeated record on the line away from the Plains at ITA Kickoff Weekend in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Tigers will face host school No. 10 Wake Forest on Friday at 5:00 PM CT, while Saturday’s opponent has yet to be determined. The Tigers recently faced the Demon Deacons when they were eliminated in the NCAA opening rounds last season 4-1.

“Wake Forest is a great team at home; I can’t tell you the last time they lost indoors at home, so they have a sense of comfort playing indoors,” the Auburn head coach said. Bobby Reynolds. – They did a great job last year when we played them indoors [in the NCAA tournament] to serve big and dominate points. They don’t want to play long rallies or grind out points, so we have to be ready for that. We have to make sure that when the field is a little faster and especially indoors, we have to take the first shot to take control of the point. From there, you’re likely to be successful if you gain control of the point faster than your opponent.”

Auburn moved up two spots from 25th^th until the 23rd^rd in the latest ITA team rankings released Wednesday, as their Friday opponent Wake Forest jumped to 10.^th from 14^thThe other two schools in attendance are No. 19 Duke and Middle Tennessee. Both matches are played indoors.

The Tigers look to continue their momentum after starting with three straight wins, the last two of which were 7-0. Freshman Billy Blaydesin just his first month on campus, went a perfect 2-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles in Auburn’s first three dual matches of the season as a senior. Jan Galka went 2-0 in both singles and doubles in Auburn’s first three matches.

Auburn had plenty of success at doubles Thursday against Samford, as Galka and Blaydes won their match at No. 2 court 6-2. Tyler Stice and Alejandro Moreno won his match on court three 6-1, and Find Murgett and Raul Dobain One match on the field was left unfinished. Coach Reynolds says he plans to keep those same doubles teams in tact this weekend.

“We’re playing the same singles lineup this week on the same pairings, on the same courts,” said the seventh-year Auburn head coach. Raul and Finn dropped nicely and played really well together at the Vanderbilt tournament. Their success really comes down to continuing to hit points with their serves and allowing their partner to be aggressive at the net. If we don’t hit points with our serves and the ball comes back into the court, it’s challenging.

“That’s what we’ve stressed to them. Raul is a big guy who can really explode the ball and we know how successful Finn has been in singles in the past, so it’s about building their relationship and finding out how they mesh and what patterns work well for them.”

If Auburn can win both of their matches this weekend, the Tigers will earn a trip to the ITA Men’s National Team Indoor Championship in Chicago, Illinois on the 17th-20th. February.

Live stats from Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center are available here in both matches and the matches will be broadcast live here.