TULSA, Okla. ? Michael Venus of the LSU men’s tennis team defeated the nation’s No. 1 player Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State University to win the 2008 D’Novo All-American Championship on Sunday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center, becoming the first in school history to win the title.
“LSU has had many great players in the history of the program. For Michael to be the first to win speaks to both the prestige of the tournament and to his level of play,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “It’s also validation of the program in all that we are doing in practice, weights and conditioning is getting results.”
As Venus, No. 20 in preseason ITA rankings, and Nedovyesov squared off, the 6-3 LSU senior was battling severe knee pain. Venus was able to capture the first set by a 7-6 (5) mark, but faltered in the following set, allowing Nedovyesov to post a 6-2 mark.
“Michael lost concentration in the second set and the match could have easily slid downhill,” LSU assistant coach Danny Bryan said. “His knee was hurting him so badly, I though he was going to have to stop the match, but he was able to fight through it and that’s what made the third set so amazing.”
After a close first set and falling in the second, Venus was able to overcome both the physical and mental hurdle his knee caused and capture the match in a stellar third set performance. Venus posted a 6-4 mark to win the set and the championship match.
“Winning felt good. I was hurting and as I got into the third set, Danny motivated me and reminded me of how hard I had worked. It gave me the motivation I needed to push through when things got tough,” Venus said.
Venus’ run at the 2008 ITA All- American advanced him over six ranked opponents in the ITA’s preseason rankings. Venus began his campaign on a solid note as he knocked off No. 98 Roy Kalmanovich of Illinois, 6-2, 6-2, before moving into the second round to defeat No. 23 Jaime Hunt of Georgia , 6-4, 7-6(8).
The highlight of Venus’ performance prior to the finals would be his victory over No. 4 Alex Clayton of Stanford. He advanced in straight sets over Clayton, 6-4, 6-1, moving into the tournament quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Venus defeated Arkansas’ Blake Strode, No. 41, in a heated match, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, to catapult him into the semis where the senior would overcome No. 31 Enrique Olivares of East Tennessee State, 7-6 (3), 6-1, creating history by becoming the first Tiger to ever advance into the finals at the ITA All-American.
Venus will next join LSU as the team travels to Lexington, Ky. for the 2008 Wilson ITA Fall Southeast Regional on Oct. 16 hosted by the University of Kentucky.
D’Novo All- American Main Draw
Oct. 9-12
Tulsa, Okla.
Oct. 12
Singles
Finals
#20Michael Venus (LSU) def. #1 Oleksandr Nedovyesov (OSU), 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4