TAMPA, Fla. — The LSU men’s tennis team overcame record temperatures on Friday to produce six victories on the first day of the University of South Florida Invitational hosted at the USF Varsity Courts.
LSU took four singles matches and two doubles matches as temperatures soared to 91 degrees to tie the daily record set in 1959.
LSU junior Sebastian Carlsson overcame USF’s Peter Frank in a three-set standoff. After dropping the first set 5-7, Carlsson bounced back to blank Frank 6-0 in the second set, and capture the tiebreaker, 10-4, to take the match.
Sophomore David Roberts earned a straight-set victory over USF’s Alex Pukal, 6-4, 6-2, and newcomers James Turbervill and Stefan Szacinski also each notched a singles win.
Turbervill took down USF’s Thomas Estrada 6-3, 6-3, and Szacinski bounced back from a first-set deficit to USF’s Juan Carlos to win the match 6-2, 10-5 in the second set and tiebreaker.
“The guys did a good job dealing with extreme heat today,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “It was a tough switch from the weather we’ve had in Baton Rouge for the past couple of weeks, but some players got in some good wins. Sebastian continued his run from the ITA regionals, and David, James and Stefan got off to a good start as well.”
In doubles, Szacinski and sophomore Neal Skupski edged out Estrada and Frank 9-8 (13-11), and Tiger tandem Cody Loup and David Roberts raced past Pukal and Carlos, 8-3.
The Tigers resume play at the USF Invitational at 8:30 CDT on Saturday.
USF Invitational
Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2009
USF Varsity Courts
Tampa, Fla.
All Times Central
Singles
Flight 1
Jamal Adderley (USF) def. Neil Skupski (LSU), 6-2, 6-3
Flight 2
Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Peter Frank (USF), 5-7, 6-0, 10-4
Flight 3
Wael Kilani (USF) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU), 6-4, 6-4
Flight 4
Mark Oljaca (USF) def. Mark Bowtell (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
Flight 5
Stefan Szacinski (LSU) def. Juan Carlos (USF), 6-7, 6-2, 10-5
Flight 6
James Turbervill (LSU) def. Thomas Estrada (USF), 6-3, 6-3
Flight 7
Yannick Yoshizawa (USF) def. Cody Loup (LSU), 7-5, 3-6, 15-13
Flight 8
David Roberts (LSU) def. Alex Pukal (USF), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
Flight 1
Neal Skupski/ Stefan Szacinski (LSU) def. Thomas Estrada/Peter Frank (USF), 9-8 (13-11)
Flight 2
Wael Kilani/ Yannick Yoshizawa (USF) def. Sebastian Carlsson/ Julien Gauthier (LSU), 8-5
Flight 3
Jamal Adderley/Mark Oljaca (USF) def. Mark Bowtell/James Turbervill (LSU), 8-1
Flight 4
Cody Loup/David Roberts (LSU) def. Alex Pukal/Juan Carlos (USF), 8-3