Heng delivers Auburn to 4-3 victory over Kentucky at home
AUBURN, Ala. –Men’s tennis prevailed with a dramatic 4-3 win over Kentucky at the Yarbrough Tennis Center on Thursday afternoon in Auburn, Alabama. With the score tied at three, redshirt sophomore Nicholas Heng claimed a close three set match to clinch the Tigers’ win over the Wildcats and retain the team’s perfect record at home. The win, which marked the third consecutive conference match to end with a 4-3 final score, extended Auburn’s home winning streak to a perfect 11-0 this season.
“I don’t like to have it come down to four singles wins, I’ll be honest,” Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said after the emotional finish. “These guys are really putting a show on for the fans and making it interesting coming down the stretch. Another match of guys just fighting, regrouping after the doubles, and being able to come out and fight.
“Hats to Billy (Blaydes) for coming out and beating a guy like Jayden Weekes one and two and setting the momentum for our team. To be on the scoreboard 1-1 so early was huge. Down the stretch, getting to win at No. 4 with Joey (Phillips), and then (Alex) Frusina was great. To have both No. 5 and No. 6 loose first sets and flip them with (Nicholas Heng) down eight points from the match and break shows our fight. Our guys have a lot of heart. They want to win it for each other and that’s what the result is when we play like that.”
Kentucky began the match with the upper hand after doubles. The Wildcats came through with a 6-3 win at the No. 2 doubles position and a 6-4 win at the No. 3 doubles position to give Auburn its fifth doubles point loss in as many matches.
Billy Blaydes got the momentum back for the Tigers with dominating win on court three that lasted just over one hour. With the opening set tied at one, Blaydes won two breaks and each of the next five games to claim the opening set. The Auburn junior then jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set before he held to 15 in the final game to defeat No. 74 Jaden Weekes 6-1, 6-2. The win marked Blaydes’ ninth dual match singles win of the season and tied the team score at one.
On the top singles court, defending SEC Player of the Week Will Nolan of Auburn came back from a 4-2 opening set deficit to No. 63 Antoine Ghibaudo to tie the set at four. The set ultimately was decided in a tiebreaker won by Ghibaudo. Ghibaudo then took the momentum from the tiebreaker win into the second set to win 7-6 (3), 6-0 and give Kentucky a 2-1 lead.
At the No. 4 singles position, Auburn’s Joey Phillips and Kentucky’s No. 121 Charlelie Cosnet traded all 12 games of the first set, leading to a tiebreaker. The two sides continued to swap points in the tiebreaker and with Phillips facing a set point down 6-5, he won each of the next three to prevail in the dramatic tiebreaker to conclude the set that lasted nearly an hour. The Auburn freshman then won three of the first four games of the second set before winning it 6-3 and tying the team score at two.
Auburn freshman Alex Frusina earned a straight set win of his own moments later over No. 49 Jack Loutit by a 6-4, 7-5 score. The singles win marked his third over a ranked opponent this season and his 17th overall this season to put the Tigers one singles win away from a team victory with a 3-2 advantage.
With both remaining matches in a third set, the Wildcats responded with a victory on court five to set up a winner-take-all match between Heng and Eli Stephenson. Stephenson claimed the first set 6-4 before Heng bounced back to take the second set by the same score after a break to love in the final game.
Stephenson began the pivotal third set with a 4-2 advantage before Heng held to love and earned a break on a deciding point in the next two games to tie the set at four. The Auburn redshirt sophomore went on to win the set 7-5 with a break in the final game to clinch the team win and begin a celebration with his teammates on court six.
“I felt like the whole match, I was in control, but he just made a few more balls and defended well,” Heng said after the clinching victory. “Toward the end of the second and the third set, I started playing more on my terms and looking for the forehand. When it came down to me, there weren’t any thoughts in my head other than to win it for the boys.”
Auburn’s fourth consecutive victory improves its record to 14-6 overall and 5-4 in conference play. Kentucky’s loss drops its overall record to 11-7 and its SEC record to 4-4.
Up next, Auburn will host a Saturday doubleheader against No. 19 Tennessee and Alabama A&M. The Tigers will face the Volunteers at noon CT before battling the Bulldogs at 5 p.m. Admission to both matches at the Yarbrough Tennis Center will be free while live video and live scoring of each match will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.