TULSA, Okla. — Six Tigers will represent the men’s tennis team in the pre-qualifying rounds of the D’Novo All-American beginning Friday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Tigers Ryan Lissner, Jonathan Tragardh and Neal Skupski will start things off for LSU in the round of 128 on Friday. Lissner and Tragardh will begin play at 9:00 a.m. Skupski’s match is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
Receiving byes for the first pre-qualifying round are Sebastian Carlsson, Julien Gauthier and Cody Loup. They will each begin tournament play on Saturday.
“The guys are eager to play,” head coach Jeff Brown said. “We want to see where a week of practice has put us and I know the team is excited to get going.”
Seniors Michael Venus and James Cluskey will also travel to represent LSU for the qualifying rounds and main draw.
Michael Venus, No. 20 in ITA preseason rankings, continues his senior campaign in the main draw of the tournament. Venus posted a 4-1 mark at the Irvine Pro Futures in September, with each win coming in straight sets and only fell in a close match to No. 2 seed Nikita Kryvonos, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Cluskey will begin the tournament in the qualifying round, which begins Monday, Oct. 6.
In addition to their roles in the singles portion of the tournament, Venus and Cluskey will comprise the only Tiger tandem participating in the doubles main draw. The duo is ranked No. 5 in ITA preseason rankings and posted a 16-6 mark last season, ending the season with a final rank of No. 16.
D’Novo Men’s All-American Prequalifying Round
Tulsa, Okla.
Oct. 3-5, 2008
All Times Central
Round of 128
Ryan Lissner (LSU) vs. Sebastian Rubiano (Southern Illinois), 9:00 a.m.
Jonathan Tragardh (LSU) vs. Zach Frisch (Western Illinois), 9:00 a.m.
Neal Skupski (LSU) vs. Jonah Kane-West (Texas), 12:30 p.m.