This weekend was a busy one for MSU men’s tennis, as it fended off both No. 37 Alabama (4-3) and No. 31 Auburn (4-1) to open the SEC play. 
Clutch play in doubles and all-around team effort pulled through for the Bulldogs to help dominate both teams.  
The SEC opener against Bama was originally scheduled for Friday but was suspended due to rain. MSU took the doubles point and had a lead of 1-0 before the game was postponed. When singles play picked back up Saturday, MSU’s Rishab Agarwal picked up where he left off, defeating his opponent 6-0, 6-3 to earn MSU a 2-0 lead. Bama answered with a victory on court one, as UA’s No. 17 Daniil Proskura came back to defeat MSU’s No. 71 Malte Stropp 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. Despite the first strike from Bama, the threat dwindled as MSU senior Zach White earned a crucial 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory against UA’s Stuart Kenyon to put MSU up 3-1.  
On court two, MSU’s No. 63 Florian Lakat dominated most of his final set. After earning a late break, UA answered with a break to put things back on serve. 
However, after holding to go up 6-5, Lakat earned a break in the final game to wrap the match in Maroon and White, winning 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.  
Between Saturday’s and Sunday’s games, Stropp said the team responded well after a couple of setbacks last week. 
“I don’t feel like we did very good last week, especially after we went 1-2 on the last two weekends. It was really good that we stepped up as a team this weekend,” he said. 
The Bulldogs carried the momentum into Sunday’s match against Auburn.
MSU’s top duo of Jordan Angus and Stropp defeated AU’s Dan Cochrane and Oliver Plaskett 8-4 for their fourth-straight victory. 
Bulldog tandem of Rishab Agarwal and White clinched the point with an 8-4 win against the Tigers’ Dante Saleh and Joseph Van Dooren. 
In singles, MSU overcame three first-set tiebreakers and rallied to win three of four matches for the victory. 
Angus, Agarwal and Lakat each collected straight-set wins to clinch the match.
Head Coach Per Nisslon said the team gave a great performance, especially playing the tie-breaker sets that gave MSU the extra boost. 
“We just got huge momentum swing by winning all three of those,” he said. “So if we lose all three of the (tie-breakers), then we’ve got to come back, and that’s never easy,” he said. 
Volunteer assistant coach James Chaudry said most of the doubt during the past week’s matchups stemmed from physical stress. 
“Like Stropp, he’s naturally talented, but he was focused on his physical wellness, which is important, of course. After he started to feel better, so did the team, and the effort was reflected on the courts,” he said. “We worked on what we were worried about, and everyone has done well.”