Auburn University women’s tennis team has added Alice Battesti and Ava Hrastar to its roster for the 2024-25 season. Tigers head coach Jordan Szabo announced them. Szabo has now signed four players since being named head coach, having also hired Merna Refaat and Emma Tothová in July. Auburn will begin its fall schedule at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic on Sept. 13.
— Auburn Women’s Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) August 13, 2024
Hrastar was also named third-team All-ACC in 2022 and has qualified for the NCAA doubles championship twice. She began her college career at Georgia Tech, where she compiled a 35-23 overall singles record and a 38-24 overall doubles record in three seasons. The Duluth, Georgia native earned ITA Doubles All-American honors in 2022 after qualifying for the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship. After playing the 2022-23 season and graduating from Georgia Tech, Hrastar joined the Ole Miss team the following season. With the Rebels, she posted a 14-14 overall record in singles and a 13-16 overall record in doubles. Hrastar appeared primarily atop the Ole Miss singles lineup and atop the doubles lineup alongside Briana Crowley for the majority of the season. The duo finished the season ranked No. 65 in doubles while Hrastar was ranked No. 108 in singles.
Adding a college tennis veteran to the roster this fall 🎾
Welcoming Ava Hrastar to the Plains 🦅#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/3f2ZZVDiHa
— Auburn Women’s Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) August 13, 2024
Prior to college, Battesti attended Lycée Saint Paul in Ajaccio, where she played soccer, handball, basketball, ping-pong, and swimming in addition to playing tennis. She joins the Tigers from the University of Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France. She won the 2023 French U18 Vice Championship and the French University Tennis Championship earlier this year. She won the Corsica Tennis Championship junior title in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, as well as the adult and junior titles in 2022 and 2023.
“I am thrilled to have Alice and Ava join us for this new era of Auburn women’s tennis. Alice is one of the best players in France and Ava is one of the best players in college tennis. They both have big goals with their tennis and I am grateful that they have chosen us to guide them on their tennis journey. We will do everything we can to help them improve and take Auburn to new heights,” said Szabo.
Lefties are electric ⚡️
Happy International Left Handers Day, Ava! ⬅️#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/xhte83iGVK
— Auburn Women’s Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) August 13, 2024
