MTSU set for ITA Kickoff Weekend in Winston-Salem

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — With a 2-1 record to start the spring season, Middle Tennessee men's tennis prepares for the ITA Kickoff Weekend against Duke on Friday and either Wake Forest or Auburn on Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C.

All four teams competing are ranked or received votes in the latest rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association: No. 10 Wake Forest, No. 19 Duke, No. 23 Auburn and (rv) Middle Tennessee.

The Blue Raiders will play the Blue Devils in the opening round. The winner will compete in the championship against the winner of Wake Forest vs. Auburn on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT. The losing teams will battle in the consolation match at 12 p.m. CT.

MTSU is coming off a hard-fought match against Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss. The Blue Raiders were dealt their first defeat on the season, dropping the dual match 5-2.

Freshman Ondrej Horak is 2-0 on court No. 4 in singles with wins vs. Michigan State and Mississippi State. As a team, MTSU is 11-5 in singles so far this season.

Pavel Motl and Stijn Slump are 3-0 at court No. 2 in doubles.

Match Four: Middle Tennessee (2-1, 0-0 C-USA) vs. Duke (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
- Friday, Jan. 27 at 12 p.m. CT
- Winston-Salem, N.C.

All-time vs. Duke
- Friday's matchup will be the fourth meeting between MTSU and Duke, the Blue Devils lead the series 3-0.
- Coach Borendame is 0-2 against the Blue Devils.

Scouting the Blue Devils
- Duke is 3-1 to begin the 2023 spring season. The Blue Devils blanked Hawai'i and North Carolina Central 7-0. They picked up a 5-2 victory over Memphis. The lone loss comes from No. 16 Harvard 3-4.
- The Blue Devils return eight players from last year's squad. No.1 and No. 2 singles players return for Duke: Garrett Johns and Andrew Zhang.
- Duke has two players ranked by the ITA in singles: No. 4 Garrett Johns and No. 101 Andrew Zhang. In doubles, Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang were listed at No. 49.

Match Five: Middle Tennessee (2-1, 0-0 C-USA) vs. Wake Forest (6-0, 0-0 ACC) or Auburn (3-0, 0-0 SEC)
- Saturday, Jan. 28 at 12 p.m. CT or 4 p.m. CT
- Winston-Salem N.C.

All-time vs. Wake Forest
- The matchup between MTSU and Wake Forest would be just the sixth meeting between the two programs. The two schools would meet for the first time since 1999. The Blue Raiders lead the series 4-1.

Scouting the Demon Deacons
- Wake Forest is off to a quick 6-0 start to the spring slate, including a 4-3 win over No. 6 Tennessee.
- The Demon Deacons return nine players from last season. The returners combined for 56 combined singles wins and 39 combined doubles win last year.
- Wake Forest has a doubles team ranked No. 30 by the ITA: Juan Lopez de Azcona/Filippo Moroni

All-time vs. Auburn
- This would be the 10th meeting between MTSU and Auburn. The Tigers lead the series 7-2.
-Coach Borendame is 2-2 against the Tigers.

Scouting the Tigers
- Auburn is 3-0 so far in 2023. They have defeated Michigan State, Alabama State and Samford. The Tigers blanked ASU and Samford 7-0. Auburn had a close match against Michigan State pulling out a 4-3 win.
- The Tigers return six players from last year's team. The returners combined for 84 singles wins in 2022. In doubles, they combined for 61 wins last season.
- Auburn has two players ranked in singles by the ITA: No. 66 Tyler Stice and No. 110 Will Nolan.

NEXT UP
The Blue Raiders host USF on Friday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. CT at the Adams Tennis Complex.

FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee men's tennis on social media on Facebook (BlueRaiderMensTennis), Twitter (MT_MensTennis) and Instagram (MT_MensTennis).

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Players Mentioned

Ondrej Horak

Pavel Motl

Stijn Slump

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics