TULSA, Okla. — The LSU men’s tennis team had two of its five players competing advance in the opening day of the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships at the University of Tulsa.
Junior Jan Zelezny and sophomore James Cluskey will play tomorrow for a chance to reach the qualifying round.
“James got off to a slow start last season, but has had an impressive beginning this season,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “Jan continues to show great speed and is starting to put together the things we have been working on in practice.”
Cluskey breezed past Oral Roberts’ Cuan Farquharson in the first round, as he took the first two sets by a 6-1 count. In his second round match, the Ireland native handily defeated Hendrik Stahmer of Nebraska, 6-0, 6-2. Cluskey will now face TCU’s Cosmin Cotet Sunday.
Zelezny, who received a bye in the first round, shined in his second round match against fellow SEC competitor Chris Rea of Ole Miss, outlasting the Rebel in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. The Czech Republic native will battle TCU’s Krigler Brink Sunday at 11 a.m.
Senior Eric DeRoche fought hard in his first round match against Wichita State’s Albert Ballesta as they went to a tiebreaker in the first set. DeRoche could not match Ballesta as he dropped the tiebreaker and the second set, 7-6, (5), 6-1
Martel Campbell and Kevin Dessauer‘s matches transpired in similar fashion. Both juniors fell in straight sets against Iowa’s Christian Bierich and Oklahoma’s Sergey Avdeyev, respectively.
“I know some of our guys had a tough day today but they will learn from their mistakes,” Brown commented. “They will just have to take what they learned from this disappointment and work on it in practice so they can continue to improve.”
The Tigers received good news regarding doubles duo Ken Skupski and Cluskey as they have been moved to the main draw of the doubles portion of the tournament which begins Thursday.
Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Pre-Qualifying
Sept. 30, 2006
Round of 64 Results
(8) Jan Zelezny (LSU) received bye
Christian Bierich (Iowa) def. Martel Campbell (LSU), 6-3.6-1
James Cluskey (LSU) def. Cuan Farquharson (Oral Roberts), 6-1, 6-1
Albert Ballesta (Wichita State) def. Eric DeRoche (LSU), 7-6(5), 6-1
Sergey Avdeyev (Oklahoma) def. Kevin Dessauer (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
Round of 32 Results
(8) Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Chris Rea (Ole Miss), 6-4, 6-2
James Cluskey (LSU) vs. Hendrik Stahmer (Nebraska),6-0,6-2
October 1, 2006
Round of 16 Schedule
(8) Jan Zelezny (LSU) vs. Krigler Brink (TCU), 11 a.m.
James Cluskey (LSU) vs.Cosmin Cotet (TCU), 11 a.m.