BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team kicks off Southeastern Conference competition as LSU hosts Auburn in a 2 p.m. match on Friday at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
LSU (4-2) leads Auburn in the all-time series 30-12, however, redemption will be on the line as Auburn upset LSU at last year’s match, 4-3.
“Auburn has been a tough opponent for us in recent history,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “They have gotten us the last three years and a lot of the current players are focused on ending that streak. The match will also be a good start to SEC competition.”
Both LSU and Auburn hold nationally ranked singles players and doubles teams.
LSU senior Michael Venus remains among the top 10 singles players in the nation, holding the No. 9 position. In addition to his singles rank, Venus and freshman partner Neal Skupski comprise the nation’s No. 13 duo.
Auburn (5-2) holds 69th-ranked Alexey Tsyrenov and 105th-ranked Tim Puetz. Tsyrenov and Puetz also pair to make the No. 11 doubles team.
In addition to their home match against Auburn, LSU will also host its second SEC opponent of the weekend on Sunday as the Tigers and Crimson Tide square off in a 1 p.m. match in Robinson Stadium.
“This is an extremely strong year for the SEC with five teams ranked in the top 11,” Brown said. “We are looking forward to seeing where we are at the end of the weekend and seeing how we have improved.”