KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – After not competing for more than two months the LSU men’s tennis team put forth a strong showing against two of the top teams in the nation on Friday, capturing three singles matches and notching a doubles win on day one of the Key Biscayne Invitational.
The Tigers competed in singles against No. 4 Texas and faced 25th-ranked Michigan in doubles competition.
Sophomore Olivier Borsos, who led the Tigers in singles wins in the fall, continued his success as he earned a straight-set victory over 78th-ranked Vasko Mladenov of Texas, 6-4, 6-4. Sophomore Roger Anderson also earned a straight-set singles victory over his Texas opponent as he took down David Holiner, 6-4, 6-4.
Senior Julien Gauthier picked up a hard-fought singles win for the Tigers. After dropping the first set 2-6, the Repentigny, Canada, native stormed back against Texas’ Daniel Whitehead, taking the final two sets 6-2, 6-3.
In doubles action senior Sebastian Carlsson and junior Neal Skupski, ranked 27th in the nation as a pair, posted an 8-2 victory over Michigan’s Barrett Franks and Justin Rossi at the top doubles spot.
“We really played well in spots today,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “We had some encouraging results, especially in singles against a team as talented as Texas. We still have some work to do in doubles, but It was a good day overall for us.”
The Tigers will take the court for day two of the three-day tournament tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. CDT against Texas in doubles before they square-off against No. 40 Denver in singles at approximately 12:30 p.m.
Key Biscayne Invitational
Key Biscayne, Fla.
Tennis Canter at Crandon Park
Jan. 7-9
Singles
Ed Corrie (UT) def. #102 Mark Bowtell (LSU), 6-4, 6-3
Jean Anderson (UT) def. Neal Skupski (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 76 Kellen Damico (UT) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 6-4, 6-3
Olivier Borsos (LSU) def. #78 Vasko Mladenov (UT), 6-4, 6-4
#100 Ben Chen (UT) def. Stefan Szacinski (LSU), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Daniel Whitehead (UT), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Sudanwa Sitaram (UT) def. Tom Knights (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
Roger Anderson (LSU) def. David Holiner (UT), 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
#27 Sebastian Carlsson/Neal Skupski (LSU) def. Barrett Franks/Justin Rossi (UM), 8-2
Evan King/Alex Buzzi (UM) def. Tom Knights/Stefan Szacinski (LSU), 8-6
Shaun Bernstein/Chris Cha (UM) def. Olivier Borsos/Roger Anderson (LSU), 8-2
Jason Jung/Duncan Muil (UM) def. Mark Bowtell/Julien Gauthier (LSU), 8-5