Mar 01, 2019
AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 24 Texas A&M men's tennis team defeated Auburn, 7-0, to open SEC play with a win at the Yarbrough Tennis Center Friday evening. With the win, the Aggies improved to 7-3 on the year and 1-0 in SEC action while the Tigers fell to 11-7 overall and 0-1 in league play.
"I thought we had great energy today from the very beginning," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "We did a good job holding our serve in the doubles to secure that all important point and kept the pressure on them early in the singles matches. I like the fact that we got contributions from everyone today."
The Maroon & White opened the match capturing the doubles point behind impressive play from doubles teams on court one and three. The first-time duo of A&M's Alex Vedri and Hady Habib topped Anders Fry and Diego Chavarria, 6-3, on court three in the first doubles win of the day. The point was clinched by the Aggie sophomore pair of Carlos Aguilar and Barnaby Smith on court one, the duo bested Brandon Laubser and Tad Maclean, 6-4.
The Aggies raced out to convincing leads on all six singles courts to maintain all of the momentum in the Yellowhammer state. The matches finished in court order for the first time this season. No. 121 Aguilar staked A&M to a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Matteo DeVincentis. Habib posted the Aggies third point with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Filippi Mora of Auburn on court two. No. 47 Valentin Vacherot clinched the win for A&M, topping Auburn's Laubser 6-3, 6-4 on court four.
Rounding out the victories for the Aggies were No. 66 Smith, Noah Schachter and Guido Marson. Smith bested Auburn's Tad Maclean 6-1, 6-3 to earn his eighth straight win. Schachter outlasted Auburn's Tim Dollman 6-1, 7-6(11) on court five followed by the final point from A&M freshman, Marson, on court six over Auburn's Michael Durham.