LEXINGTON, Ky. — The LSU men’s tennis team had a solid performance on Friday, winning 10 matches in the first and second rounds and advancing three Tigers to round of 32 at the ITA Southeast Regional hosted by the University of Kentucky.
LSU’s James Cluskey, Julien Gauthier and Neal Skupski will advance to the third round of singles play on Saturday.
“We had a good day overall. We played a ton of matches and won most of them,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “We got the breakthrough we were looking for and now we have to be hungry for more.”
Third-quarter No. 17 seed Cluskey squared off against Kyle Wishing of Middle Tennessee State University in the first round of singles competition and moved over his opponent in a straight-set victory, posting a 6-2, 6-1 mark. As Cluskey launched into second round competition, he faced Maksim Levanovich of Stetson University. By posting a 6-3, 7-5 mark over Levanovich, Cluskey advanced into the third round of singles play and will take on University of Miami’s David Simon.
Sophomore Gauthier moved swiftly through his first match, knocking off first-round opponent Leon Nasemann of Memphis, 6-4, 6-1, before moving into a heated battle in the second round during which he faced John Peers of Middle Tennessee State.
After posting a 6-4 win in the first set, Gauthier faltered and Peers took the second set by a 6-4 mark. Gauthier battled with his MTSU opponent and won the match in a close third set during which the 5-10 sophomore posted a 7-5 mark over Peers. Gauthier will move into the round of 32 to square off against second-quarter No. 17 seed Tyler Hochwalt of Florida.
Skupski first faced Josh Girling of Tennessee Tech. The LSU freshman overtook Girling by a 6-2, 7-5 mark before advancing into the second round of singles matches and defeating second quarter seed No. 17 Marc Abdelnour of Florida Atlantic. In a heated match, the LSU newcomer bounced back from a first-set loss of 6-3 to post a 6-4, 7-5 mark, take the match and advance over Abdelnour into the round of 32 to face Auburn’s Lukas Marsoun.
All three Tigers will begin matches in the round of 32 at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Lexington Tennis Club.
ITA Southeast Regional
October 16-20, 2008
Lexington, Ky.
All Times Central
Oct. 17
Singles
Round of 128
Ryan Lissner (LSU) def. James Crawford (TTU), 6-2, 7-5
Peter Sauska (UTC) def. Cody Loup (LSU), 6-2, 6-0
Neal Skupski (LSU) def Josh Girling (TTU), 6-2, 7-5
Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Leon Nasemann (Memphis), 6-4, 6-1
Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Richard Cowden (MTSU), 6-4, 6-3
17 James Cluskey (LSU) def. Kyle Wishing (MTSU), 6-2, 6-1
Jonathan Tragardh (LSU) def. Lawrence Washington (KSU), 7-5, 6-3
Mark Bowtell (LSU) def. Andrew Felsenthal (UA), 6-3, 7-6
Round of 64
7 Tim Puetz (AU) def. Ryan Lissner (LSU), 6-2, 7-5
Neal Skupski (LSU) def. 17 Marc Abdelnour (FAU), 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. John Peers (MTSU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
17 Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 4-6, 7-5, 7-5
17 James Cluskey (LSU) def. Maksim Levanovich (SU), 6-3, 7-5
17 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Mark Bowtell (LSU), 6-3, 6-1
Charlie Ramsay (Memphis) def. Jonathan Tragardh (LSU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-0
Oct. 18
Round of 32
James Cluskey (LSU) vs. David Simon (UM), 12:30 p.m.
Julien Gauthier (LSU) vs. 17 Tyler Hochwalt (UF), 12:30 p.m.
Neal Skupski (LSU) vs. Lukas Marsoun (AU), 12:30 p.m.