The Tigers began Saturday, Sept. 20th at the ITA All-American Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and concluded the tournament Sept 28. Freddy Blaydes, Billy Blaydes, Nicholas Heng, and Joey Phillips opened in singles playing the prequalifying round, and the Blaydes brothers competed in the doubles main draw. After a respectable runner-up finish in a dual-format tournament earlier this month, Freddy Blaydes and Heng entered their second fall tournament this past week. This was Billy's opening fall tournament.
Nicholas Heng won in straight sets over Teddy Truwit of Duke in the opening round of singles prequalifying, and he took that momentum and won against Gabriel Elisha Navas of Arkansas in the second round before being defeated in the third round in the prequalifying draw.
Nicholas Heng and Joey Phillips of Auburn defeated Ian Bracks and Thomas Nicholas Gadecki of Oklahoma State in a tight match, and they were defeated by Michael Andre and Sam Landau of Indiana University in the next round in the doubles draw.
Billy Blaydes came back with a three-set win over Tiago Pires of Texas A&M after losing in the first round in the qualifying stages to Matthew Forbes of Michigan State University. This was Billy's first win of the 2025-26 season for singles.
The Blaydes brothers took down Baylor's Conner Henry Van Schalkwyk and Zsombor Velcz, who is ranked No. 28 in the nation for doubles, in a tight three-set match of 4-6, 7-6 (5), [10-7] in the first round of doubles in the main draw. The Blaydes were then defeated by No. 33 Henry Jefferson and Tanapatt Nirudorn of Florida.
The Auburn players will have another opportunity to earn bids to the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships at the ITA Southern Regional Championships and the ITA South Sectional Championships later in the fall.
The Auburn Tigers will continue their season by hosting The Battle on the Plains from October 3rd to 5th at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama. The miniature dual-format tournament will be open to the public and Auburn students alike, with free admission.
