BATON ROUGE – Senior Sebastian Carlsson and junior Neal Skupski of the LSU men’s tennis team will travel to Tulsa, Okla. to compete in the 2010 D’Novo/ITA All-American Championships hosted by the University of Tulsa at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Carlsson, ranked No. 78 in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, will open play on Monday in the singles qualifying round against the University of San Diego’s Patrick Pohlmann at 9 a.m. CDT. If Carlsson wins, he would advance to play the winner of Kyle McMorrow (Washington) and Robert Maytin (Baylor) on Tuesday.
The Uppsalla, Sweden, native would need to win his second-round match then emerge victorious in a third match to earn a spot in the main draw.
Skuski, who is ranked 31st in the ITA rankings, has already qualified for the singles main draw and will begin play on Thursday.
“Over the last month both of these guys have been working hard on and off of the court,” said LSU assistant coach Danny Bryan. “They are excited about getting the opportunity to start playing and for the start of the season.”
In addition to competing in the singles rounds, Carlsson and Skupski will team up for the doubles main draw. Combined, the duo is ranked No. 16 in the ITA doubles preseason rankings. The doubles main draw begins on Thursday.
In 2008, former LSU tennis standout Michael Venus became the first and only player in the history of the LSU men’s tennis program to capture the All-American crown when he defeated then top-ranked Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4.