ATHENS, Ga. – After narrowly dropping the first set 7-6(2), LSU men’s tennis sophomore Neal Skupski fell to North Carolina’s Clay Donato in the first round of the NCAA Singles Championships on Wednesday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Ranked 34th in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, Donato jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the first set before Skupski battled back to tie it 3-3. With the set tied 6-6, Donato took the tiebreaker, 7-2.
Skupski fought hard in the second set but fell 6-3.
“Neal had a really good three weeks of practice after the team season, and he definitely improved in a lot of areas,” said assistant coach Danny Bryan.
The Liverpool, England, native finished the season with an impressive 17 singles wins, the second most on the team, along with 14 doubles victories. He was named the team MVP and earned Second-Team All-SEC honors.
“This was a great experience for Neal,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “He will use this as a spark for next season.”
Skupski is currently ranked No. 50 in the ITA rankings and peaked as high as 26th in January.
NCAA Singles Championships
May 26-31
Athens, Ga.
Round of 64
No. 34 Clay Donato (UNC) def. No. 50 Neal Skupski (LSU), 7-6(2), 6-3