BATON ROUGE — The 24th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team remained undefeated at home on Saturday as the Tigers overpowered the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 6-1, at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“I was really pleased with how we played today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “After the Texas A&M match last week, we came out and had a really good week of practice. We played against a very good team in Tulsa today and I was certainly surprised that we were able to beat them like we did.”
After taking the doubles point to earn an early 1-0 lead, LSU reeled off three straight-set victories in singles play to knock off the Golden Hurricane and earn its sixth-consecutive home win of the season.
LSU’s Bryan Fisher recorded the match-clinching victory on Saturday as the Tigers’ junior from Nashville, Tenn., cruised past Tulsa’s Shunsoke Shimizu, 6-2, 6-3, on court No. 4. With the win, Fisher remained undefeated on the season while playing in the No. 4 singles position and improved to 6-1 in dual matches.
The Tigers upped their overall record to 6-1 with the victory and will begin Southeastern Conference play against 12th-ranked Alabama on Friday. Tulsa fell to 4-5 on the season and dropped its second straight match against an SEC opponent. The Golden Hurricane lost to Arkansas, 4-3, on Wednesday.
In doubles play, LSU recorded victories on courts No. 1 and No. 2, while Tulsa’s combination of Aleksander Charpantidis and Alejandro Tejerina earned an 8-5 win on court No. 3.
LSU’s 24th-ranked tandem of Fisher and Jason Hazley knocked off the Golden Hurricane’s 19th-ranked doubles combination of Taylor and Ryan Livesay, 8-4, while the Tigers’ No. 53 pair comprised of Cory Ross and Sebastian Rutka defeated Tulsa’s duo of Shimizu and John Mathews, 8-4, on court No. 2.
The Tigers’ Jason Hazley, Cory Ross, and Brandon Nicholson each recorded straight-set victories in singles play on Saturday. Hazley, knocked off Livesay, 6-4, 6-1, in the No. 3 singles match, while Ross earned his eighth-consecutive victory on court No. 5 over Olof Sjolund, 6-2, 6-0, and Nicholson dropped Charpantidis, 7-6(4), 6-3, in the No. 6 contest.
“I think that we’re playing some of our best tennis right now,” Brown said. “We looked really good out there tonight and I’m pleased with how we did a great job of playing hard despite all of the distractions today. We weren’t bothered by any of the delays and it feels good to be playing well heading into SEC competition.”
In the match of the day, Tulsa’s 43rd-ranked Tejerina overcame a 6-3 first-round loss against LSU’s Peter Richman to come from behind to win the contest, 3-6, 7-6(2), 1-0(1). The heartbreaking defeat snapped Richman’s five match winning streak and dropped his overall record on the season to 12-6.
The No. 24 LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on Friday as the Tigers begin SEC play at home against the 12th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide at 2 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
Admission is free to all LSU home matches and refreshments will be provided by the Tennis Tiger Athletic Foundation.
#24 LSU def. Tulsa, 6-1
Doubles
1. #24 Fisher/Hazley (LSU) def. #19 Livesay/Taylor (UT), 8-4
2. #53 Ross/Rutka (LSU) def. Mathews/Shimizu (UT), 8-4
3. Charpantidis/Tejerina (UT) def. Nicholson/Richman (LSU), 8-5
Singles
1. #43 Alejandro Tejerina (UT) def. Peter Richman (LSU), 3-6, 7-6(2), 1-0(1)
2. #74 Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Dustin Taylor (UT), 3-6, 7-6(8), 1-0(def)
3. #124 Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Ryan Livesay (UT), 6-4, 6-1
4. #111 Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Shunsuke Shimizu (UT), 6-2, 6-3
5. Cory Ross (LSU) def. Olof Sjolund (UT), 6-2, 6-0
6. Brandon Nicholson (LSU) def. Aleksander Charpantidis (UT), 7-6(4), 6-3
Overall Records: LSU 6-1, Tulsa 4-5