© Noelle Iglesias/Auburn Tigers
The Auburn University men’s tennis team won 5-2 over Wisconsin on the road, Friday night at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison. After losing the doubles point, the Tigers earned four singles victories and the match victory.
The win allowed Auburn to improve its record to 4-1, while Wisconsin remains winless this season at 0-7. Now, the Tigers will travel to South Bend, Indiana to play Notre Dame on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.
A dairy nice win tonight in Madison 🥛#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/MqDRvACbeK
— Auburn Men’s Tennis (@AuburnMTennis) February 10, 2024
Auburn began the doubles point with a win already on the board, as Wisconsin lost court three via walkover because they didn’t have enough players available to fill all three courts. The top Tiger doubles team of Raul Dobai and Finn Murgett started the match strong with a 3-1 lead. Matthew Fullerton and Michael Minasyan fought back to tie the match at three and ultimately claim the match 6–4.
After trailing 5–3 at one point during the match on court two, Billy Blaydes and Will Nolan returned to force a tiebreaker, but dropped the tiebreaker to allow the Badgers to claim the doubles point .
In singles, the Tigers once again started with a lead, as a walkover win on court six tied the match 1–1 before the first serve occurred in any singles match. Dobai, Tyler Stice and Alejandro Moreno earned wins in the opening set to put Auburn in a good position to quickly clinch the match.
Dobai became the first player to finish, dominating Tomas Zlatohlavek 6-2, 6-1 to earn his team-best 12th singles victory of the season and give Auburn the lead. With his second set tied at three on the first court, Stice pulled away from Minasyan for a straight set victory by a score of 6-4, 6-4 to put the Tigers within one win of victory.
Murgett and Blaydes achieved one-sided victories in the second set to force their respective matches into a third set while Moreno lost the second set. Blaydes started his third set down 2-1, but came back to tie the set 3-3 and never looked back. His 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory kept him perfect in doubles singles matches this spring at 4-0 and secured the team’s victory for the Tigers.
Victory scream 🗣️
Finn Murgett clinches a team victory with a thrilling win on court three 💪
Tyler Stice and Billy Blaydes also with match wins for the Tigers 🐅#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/lkRsUD7z3r
— Auburn Men’s Tennis (@AuburnMTennis) February 10, 2024
Auburn coach Bobby Reynolds said, after the win: “It’s great to find a way and get the win when we’re not playing our best tennis. The guys dug deep, tried to get out of holes and finally gave themselves the chance to close out games. We need to be more aggressive with our doubles and not allow our opponents to take control of the net.”
Men’s doubles:
1. Matthew Fullerton/Michael Minasyan (WISC) def. Raúl Dobai/Finn Murgett (AUB) 6-4
2. Oliver Olsson/Tomas Zlatohlavek (WISC) def. Billy Blaydes/Will Nolan (AUB) 7-6 (4)
3. Nicholas Heng/Tyler Stice (AUB) win by walkover
Men’s singles:
1. #84 Tyler Stice (AUB) def. Michael Minasyan (Wisc) 6-4, 6-4
2. #105 Raúl Dobai (AUB) def. Tomas Zlatohlavek (Wisc) 6-2, 6-1
3. Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Matthew Fullerton (Wisc) 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
4. Collin Beduhn (Wisc) def. Alessandro Moreno (AUB) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
5. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Oliver Olsson (Wisc) 4-6, 6-3 6-3
6. Nicholas Heng (AUB) wins by walkover
