BATON ROUGE — The 16th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team looks to earn its third-straight Southeastern Conference victory on Friday, as the Tigers host the Kentucky Wilcats at 2 p.m. in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“Kentucky has a very balanced team from the top of their lineup to the bottom,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “There is not really a lot of difference between their No. 1 and No. 6 guys, and that means that we are going to have to be ready all the way through our lineup. We are going to have to step up to the challenge that they present. They also have some players with unique game styles that we are going to have to be prepared for.”
LSU recently recorded huge SEC wins over both Vanderbilt and Arkansas.
After falling to 18th-ranked Mississippi State, 5-2, on the road in Starkville, the Tigers rebounded in conference play by crushing Vanderbilt, 6-1, and stealing a 4-3 win from Arkansas on the road. The LSU men possess a 2-1 SEC record and an overall mark of 8-2.
The Wildcats enter Friday’s dual-match contest with an overall record of 7-6 on the season. Kentucky opened the year with a 4-0 record, but has recorded a 3-6 mark in its previous eight match-ups. In the Wildcats’ lone-SEC duel of the season, the team defeated Alabama, 5-2, at home in Lexington. Kentucky was blanked by No. 1 UCLA, 7-0, in its most-recent contest.
Edo Bawano is the Wildcats’ lone-ranked player, while the Tigers boast the services of two of the nation’s top-singles players, as well as a nationally ranked doubles team.
Ajay Ramaswami, LSU’s senior from Mumbai, India, comes into Friday’s contest as the 11th-ranked player in the nation and has compiled an overall record of 18-10 this season. He will be flanked by the No. 82 player in the nation, Jesse Smatt.
Smatt has accumulated a 16-9 record this season and is also a vital member of the Tigers’ 41st-ranked doubles tandem. Along with freshman Sanjin Sadovich, Smatt has led LSU’s No. 2 doubles team to an undefeated 8-0 dual record.
In last season’s annual match-up, the Tigers dropped Kentucky, 5-2, on the road in Lexington. The win improved LSU’s overall record to an impressive 18-3 overall record and an 8-2 mark versus conference opponents.
The 16th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will face the Kentucky Wildcats at 2 p.m. on Friday, in the opening match of a double header at the “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. The 25th-ranked Lady Tigers are scheduled to host the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes immediately following the men’s match.
Admission is free to both of Friday’s matches, and the LSU tennis department will provide pizza for the fans.