There are heartbreaking losses, and then there are losses that leave one staring blankly at the wall for a while.
Tennessee men’s tennis was outlasted by No. 18 Auburn, 4-3, at Barksdale Tennis Stadium on Friday. The Vols (6-7, 0-3 SEC) held a 3-2 lead after the completion of four matches in the singles session, but they were unable to snatch either of the remaining courts from the Tigers (10-1, 2-0 SEC).
The doubles session saw a new lineup for the Vols for the eighth consecutive match. Court 1 saw Dragos Cazacu and Boruch Skierkier face off with the Blaydes brothers, Billy and Freddy, who entered the match as the 20th-ranked doubles tandem in the country. Tennessee held its own for much of the match until the Tigers broke for 4-3 on a volley winner. The Tigers held their nerve the rest of the way and came up with a pair of holds to clinch 6-4.
On Court 2, Shion Itsusaki and Piotr Siekanowicz quickly went down 5-1 to Nicholas Heng and Joey Phillips. Then they saved a match point. Then they broke. Then they broke again and suddenly got to five all. The Vols had all the momentum on Court 2 until suddenly things ended on Court 3.
Tennessee dropped Court 3, 6-4, after a double fault to give Auburn the match. Alejandro Moreno and Jan Kobierski had game points to prolong the match, but the Tigers were able to force a deciding point, which they ultimately took.
Trailing 1-0 yet again, the Vols looked to the singles session to rebound and score an upset win. The theater that would unfold over the next few hours was nothing short of terrific.
Jose Garcia trailed 5-1 to Billy Blaydes, but broke to stay alive. He then fended off a set point in his next service game to get to 3-5. He broke again to get back on serve, but again faced a set point on his own serve. But Blaydes shanked a forehand and squandered another set point, keeping Garcia alive. After forcing a tiebreak at six all, Garcia outclassed Billy and took the set, and he cruised in the second set to win 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Kobierski took out Freddy in handy fashion on Court 4, 6-4, 6-2; Auburn quickly answered with a Court 6 win from Manel Lazaro over Itsusaki, 7-5, 6-2.
At 2-2, the match came down to a best-of-three, and, to add more drama, each of the remaining matches went to a deciding third set.
At Court 3, Cazacu rallied from down a set and played a very tactical and measured brand of tennis to seize control of the match. At 5-2, he held a match point on a deciding point return. The man they call “Dragon” dictated the point, opening up the court with his forehand and pushing around Heng until closing to the net and putting away the match with a calm, collected volley winner for a 6-2 win in the decisive set.
Despite Tennessee’s 3-2 lead on the scoreboard, Auburn was still in the catbird seat — it held break advantages on the two remaining courts.
A valiant effort from Boruch Skierkier was bested by Bojarski, who took control of the match in the last two sets to win 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 and level the match for the Tigers.
All eyes turned to Court 1, where Moreno faced off with Hamza Nasridinov, who entered the match separated by just two spots in the ITA singles rankings.
With a break point at 2-3, Moreno hammered a forehand return and drew an error to level the match at three games apiece. At this point, both teams, with players having turned to spectators, cheered vociferously, willing their man on.
The next man to blink was Moreno, who struck a forehand long at 30-40 to concede the break for 4-5. Nasridinov then elevated his game and served out the match to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, giving Auburn a 4-3 win and keeping the Vols winless in SEC play.
Tennessee will return to action at home with a doubleheader on Sunday. The Vols are scheduled to begin play at 11 a.m. against Oklahoma, then they will close out the day at 5 p.m. vs. Belmont.
