NEW ORLEANS — Seniors Kevin Dessauer and Jan Zelezny of the LSU men’s tennis team upset the top-seeded and No. 4-ranked doubles team of Jonas Berg and Erling Tveit of Ole Miss Saturday afternoon at the SEC Coaches’ Indoor Championships held in the Health Club at the Hilton.
Dessauer and Zelezny dominated the Rebel pair by an 8-2 score to advance to the quarterfinals. After starting the season 0-2, the LSU duo has now won three straight matches.
Dessauer and Zelezny will face sixth-seeded Jamie Hunt and Nate Schnugg of Georgia Sunday afternoon. The two SEC duos faced each other twice last season, with the Bulldogs wining in the regular season, 9-7, and the Tigers winning in the SEC Tournament, 8-6.
“Jan and Kevin have improved throughout their career as a doubles team,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “They look like they are going to have another successful season based on today’s result. They play a familiar pair tomorrow. It should be a nice match up to see where they compare with the other top teams.”
Saturday’s action featured the singles second round and quarterfinals, the doubles second round and consolation matches.
The top-seed of the singles bracket was also upset Saturday as Travis Helgeson of Georgia fell in straights sets to unseeded and unranked Ivan Bjelica of Mississippi State, 6-4 6-2.
The rest of the day faired well for the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs as they have four of the remaining eight singles players that will compete in Sunday’s semifinals. Mississippi State’s Ivan Bjelica, Tennessee’s John Patrick Smith and Jeremy Tweedt and Jonas Berg of Ole Miss fill the remaining semifinal spots.
In singles, two Tigers won their semifinals matches. In the “A” draw, newcomer Michael Venus picked up a huge win against seventh-seeded Kaden Hensel of Tennessee, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4). The Orlando native’s impressive run came to end when he fell to fourth-seeded Luis Flores of Georgia, 6-2, 6-0, in the quarterfinals.
Julien Gauthier reached the quarterfinals of the “B” draw. The Canadian took the first set in his semifinals match against Jakob Klaeson of Ole Miss to a tiebreaker. Gauthier captured the tiebreaker but struggled in the second set, falling by a 6-3 mark. Gauthier cruised from there by taking the third set, 6-2, to move on to the next round.
Gauthier’s five-match win streak came to an end in the quarterfinals where he fell to Georgia’s Christian Vitulli, 6-1, 6-2. The loss puts Gauthier’s record at 9-5.
Outside of Dessauer and Zelezny’s upset victory, the doubles draw did not treat LSU well as the remaining three Tiger duos were eliminated.
Action resumes tomorrow at 10 a.m. CT.
SEC Coaches’ Indoor Championships
New Orleans, La.
January 18-21, 2007
Saturday, Jan. 19 Results
Singles “A” Draw
Round of 16
Michael Venus (LSU) def. (7) Kaden Hensel (UT), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4).
#93 John Patrick Smith (UT) def. #88 Jan Zelezny (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
Quarterfinals
(4) Luis Flores def. Michael Venus (LSU), 6-2, 6-0
Singles “B” Draw
Round of 16
(8) Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Jakob Klaeson (UM), 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-2
Erik Corace (UF) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 6-4, 6-4
(3) Jonas Berg (UM) def. Ryan Lissner (LSU), 6-1, 6-3
Quarterfinals
(4) Christian Vitulli (UGA) def. (8) Julien Gauthier (LSU), 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
Round of 16
Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. (1) #4 Jonas Berg /Erling Tveit (UM), 8-2
Jakob Klaeson/Robbye Poole (UM) def. (4) Colt Gaston/Michael Venus (LSU), 9-8 (4)
(3) #24 Bram ten Berge/Matthias Wellermann (UM) def. Sebastian Carlsson/Ryan Lissner (LSU), 8-3
(2) Luis Flores/Travis Helgeson (UGA) def. James Cluskey/Julien Gauthier (LSU), 8-4
Consolation Matches
Flight “A”
Diego Cubas (USC) def. Kevin Dessauer (LSU), 6-3, 7-6 (3)
#48 Robbye Poole (UM) def. James Cluskey (LSU), 6-3, 6-3
Flight “B”
Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. David Wolff (USC), 6-2, 6-7 (4), 10-7
Sunday, Jan. 20 Schedule
Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU) vs. (6) Jamie Hunt/Nate Schnugg (UGA), not before 11 a.m.
(tournament seed) No. ? National ranking