ATHENS, Ga. — LSU freshmen Sebastian Rutka and Bryan Fisher each won twice Saturday at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships to advance to the semifinals of their respective draws.
Rutka, a freshman, beat Auburn’s Raitis Turkins 6-5(6), 6-2 in his first match of the day. The tournament uses an experimental format which plays a tiebreaker when the set is tied at 5-5. Later in the day, Rutka beat Gustavo Kawaski of Winthrop 6-4, 6-4 to reach the round of four in the “B” draw.
Fisher, also a freshman, won in straight sets in both matches to advance to the semifinal round. He beat Jeff Scarella of Florida State, 6-4, 6-4, before outhitting Samford’s Chuck Haddox, 6-2, 6-2.
Also advancing for LSU was Anthony Mateljan who beat Josef Clark of Florida A&M, 6-1, 6-1, to move into the third round of the “B” flight consolation draw.
Ajay Ramaswami, Jesse Smatt and Dan Kiernan all fell in their second round match in the “A” flight. Ramaswami’s 1-6, 6-5 (5) 6-5, (11) loss to Brandon Wagner of Georgia was his first in six matches after winning the consolation of the National Clay Court Championships two weeks ago.
Smatt fell to Daniel Klemetz of Middle Tennessee State, 6-2, 6-2, while Kiernan was ousted by No. 33 Lesley Joseph, 6-4, 6-5 (1).