Nov. 20, 2008

AUBURN - The Auburn men's tennis team closes out its fall season this weekend with the 2008 Auburn Fall Classic. This will be just the second year Auburn has hosted the tournament at the new City of Auburn/Auburn University Yarbrough Tennis Center.

"We are excited to finish up the fall here at home," head coach Eric Shore said. "We have not had an event in a couple of weeks, so we are ready to play after practicing so long."

This year's four-team field will include Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina as well as in-state teams Troy and Samford.

The three-day, round-robin tournament gives each team the chance to match-up with each other in singles and doubles play. All results will be recorded on an individual basis and will not count towards the team's standings.

Auburn is the only team in the field to show up in the top 50 of the final team standing after the 2008 season, coming in at No. 31.

The 2009 fall season has continued the success Auburn saw last spring in its run to the NCAA Tournament. In seven tournaments Auburn has reached either a singles or doubles final in three of them and won two consolation titles as a team.

Senior Alexey Tsyrenov and sophomore Tim Puetz have a near perfect doubles record at 9-2 in only two tournaments.

Another fierce fall duo has been the team of senior Lukas Marsoun, who is 8-4 in singles play, and newcomer Alex Stamchev (9-3). The pair has teamed up for six doubles wins and only two losses as well as two second place finishes.

"Stamchev has had a good fall, I have been pleasantly surprised by him," Shore said. "Tsyrenov and Puetz worked really well together in doubles as well."

Auburn hopes to continue its fall success at home in its eighth and final fall tournament. Auburn will return back to the Yarbrough Tennis Center to begin its 2009 season in the Auburn Spring Classic, Jan. 21-23.

"We have been on the road playing tournament all fall and it is nice to come home," Shore said. "We are thankful to have indoor facilities to play in, considering the weather, and obviously, we are very used to the surroundings at home."

South Carolina will also finish up its fall season at the Auburn Fall Classic. The Gamecocks competed in three other tournaments this fall, performing well in all three. They boast three players dropping two matches or less this fall. Perdo Campos (7-2), Diego Cubas (7-1) and Ivan Machado (6-2) have played in all three tournaments and have each won a singles flight.

Samford comes to The Plains having played in only two fall tournaments prior to the Auburn Fall Classic. The team had a strong showing at the Crimson Tide Invitational. The Bulldogs' Oliver Reynolds advanced to the title match in his bracket and all three doubles team advanced to second day action.

Troy's fall season also ends in Auburn after playing in three tournaments, two of which Auburn was also entered in.

All matches will be played on the indoor courts, starting with doubles action and moving straight into singles. Action begins at 10 a.m., Friday with Troy taking on South Carolina, followed by Auburn vs. Samford at 2:30 p.m.

Play on Saturday begins at 9:30 a.m. with Samford taking on Troy. AU will follow at 2 p.m. against the Gamecocks. The teams will wrap up play on Sunday, beginning with USC and Samford at 9 a.m., and Auburn vs. Troy at 1:30 p.m.

All matches are open to the public with free admission.