NEW ORLEANS, LA – – LSU men’s tennis players Tom Hand and Anthony Mateljan both won the championship titles of their respected brackets in the Bill Watson Ford Men’s Tennis Invitational. Hand won the final of the “A” singles, and Mateljan, the Tiger sophomore, was victorious in the class “B” final.
“I’m extremely proud of the way that the team performed in this tournament,” said head coach Jeff Brown. “They won the key points when they needed to, and I’m glad that Tom and Anthony were able to come away with victories. It’s too bad that Ajay (Ramaswami) had to face Tom, because he deserved to win as well.”
Hand, the LSU senior, won the three-set championship match versus his teammate Ramaswami, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Hand was the top-seeded player in the tournament while Ramaswami defeated the No. 4 seeded Tom Dalby of UAB 7-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinal round, and then beat fellow Tiger, Daniel Kiernan to reach the championship match.
LSU’s second-year player from San Pedro, Calif., Mateljan, defeated UNO’s Sebastion Locatelli in straight sets 7-6, 6-2 to take the crown in the “B” singles. Mateljan was the No. 1 seeded player in the bracket while Locatelli was seeded No. 2.
In the “B” doubles championship, the Tiger’s doubles team of Kiernan/Nicholson defeated the combination of Blackburn/Pedro of SEC rival Mississippi, 8-5.
The LSU Tigers were victorious in three of the four brackets in the tournament. They won both the “A” and “B” singles titles and the “B” doubles championship. The Tigers will next be in action November 4-7 at the Regional Individuals in Athens, Ga.