TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – LSU men’s tennis junior Mark Bowtell advanced to the singles main draw semifinals on Sunday at the USTA/ITA Southern Regional Championships, but fell to 58th-ranked Tucker Vorster of Ole Miss 4-6, 2-6 to end the team’s run at the tournament.
Bowtell, a product of County Wicklow, Ireland, defeated Auburn’s Tim Hewitt 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals to clinch the semifinal berth.
In other quarterfinal action, junior Neal Skupski was upended by Auburn’s Alex Stamchev, who is currently ranked 73rd in the country by the ITA, 6-7, 1-6. Senior Sebastian Carlsson‘s tournament also ended in the semifinal round, as he fell to Jonas Lutchen of Ole Miss 3-6, 4-6.
“It was a very positive tournament and we had some great results,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “It shows us that we are doing a lot of things right in our practice and our conditioning. We will make some minor adjustments and look to continue our great fall next weekend.”
The Tiger’s run in the doubles main draw was stopped also stopped short as Carlsson and Skupski dropped a tough match to the Ole Miss duo Marcel and Chris Thiemann 6-8 in the semifinals. The Thiemann brothers were the No. 1 overall doubles seed and are ranked 10th in the nation by the ITA.
The Tiger’s will finish out the fall season next weekend in Tampa, Fla., at the USF Fall Invitational hosted by the University of South Florida. The flighted tournament is set to begin Oct. 29 and run through the 31st.
USTA/ITA Southern Regional Championships
October 22-25
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
University of Alabama Tennis Center
Singles Main Draw
Quarterfinals
Mark Bowtell (LSU) def. Tim Hewitt (Auburn), 6-4, 6-4
Alex Samchev (Auburn) def. Neal Skupski (LSU), 7-6, 6-1
Jonas Lutchen (Ole Miss) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 6-3, 6-4
Semifinals
Tucker Vorster (Ole Miss) def. Mark Bowtell (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
Singles Consolation
Round of 16
Branko Weber def. Stefan Szacinski (LSU), 6-4, 3-6, 10-4
Doubles Main Draw
Quarterfinals
Marcel Thiemann/Chris Thiemann (Ole Miss) def. Sebastian Carlsson/Neal Skupski (LSU), 8-6