Auburn men’s tennis completed the ITA Kickoff Weekend with a comeback victory over Alabama on Friday, before falling to No. 7 Mississippi State in Saturday’s championship match at the Rula Tennis Pavilion.
Auburn opened the weekend rallying past Alabama 4-1, after a wobbly start, dropping the doubles point and falling behind in all four opening singles sets.
“That was one of the grittiest wins I’ve been a part of,” Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. “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 nobody panicked, and nobody flinched. This group believes in the work, stayed present and trusted each other.”
Alabama appeared in control early, taking the opening set on each of the top four singles courts. Auburn began their comeback at the No. 5 position, where freshman Alan Bojarski made a strong collegiate debut against Jacob Olar. Bojarski secured the first set, 6-4, before dominating the second with a 6-0 win to even the team score at 1-1.
Momentum shifted quickly towards the Tigers as Auburn forced third sets across multiple courts. Freddy Blaydes rebounded from a 6-2 first-set loss to Carlos Gimenez Perez at No. 4 singles, responding with a flawless 6-0 second set and closing out the match, 6-2, to put the Tigers within one point of victory.
On the top court, Hamza Nasridinov delivered the clincher. After dropping the opening set to Andrii Zimnokh, Nasridinov responded with a 6-3 second set and 6-0, to secure the match and the team victory.
“Beating Alabama in a moment like this, in a pressure environment, says a lot about the character of this team,” Reynolds added. “They fought for every ball, lifted each other and earned every point of that comeback.”
With the win, Auburn advanced to Saturday’s ITA Kickoff Weekend championship match and improved to 6-0 on the season.
On Saturday, Auburn faced the host, Mississippi State with the win in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on the line. The Tigers claimed the doubles point but ultimately fell, 4-2.
Mississippi State struck first with a win at the No. 2 doubles position, but Bojarski and Jake Kennedy answered with a 7-5 victory on court three. Billy and Freddy Blaydes then clinched the doubles point with a dramatic 7-6 (3) win over Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez, the nation’s No. 2-ranked doubles team.
The Bulldogs responded in singles play with straight-set victories at the No. 4, No. 3 and No. 2 positions to take a 3-1 lead. Auburn continued to battle, highlighted by Manel Lazaro’s three-set win over Bryan Hernandez Cortes at No. 6 singles to cut the deficit to 3-2.
At No. 5 singles, Bojarski pushed Raphael Vaksmann to three sets after rebounding from a first-set tiebreak loss, but Vaksmann closed out the match, 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-2, to clinch the victory for Mississippi State.
The loss marked Auburn’s first of the season, dropping the Tigers to 6-1 overall. Auburn will look to their next match Sunday, Feb. 1, at Clemson’s Duckworth Family Tennis Facility.
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Sarah is a sophomore majoring in public relations. She started with The Plainsman in the spring of 2025.
