BATON ROUGE – After capturing the early doubles point, the LSU men’s tennis team was unable to hold the momentum as they fell to the 38th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
LSU’s sophomore duo of Roger Anderson and Stefan Szacinski were first off the courts as they dispatched the Bulldog pair of George Coupland and James Chaudry 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.
The 17th-ranked Tiger pair of junior Neal Skupski and senior Sebastian Carlsson then continued their outstanding play by notching an 8-5 win over Mississippi State’s Malte Stropp and Louis Cant at the top doubles spot to capture the doubles point and give LSU a 1-0 lead. With the win, the Tiger tandem is now 10-3 overall and 3-1 in SEC competition this season.
Mississippi State wouldn’t let up as the Bulldogs switched the momentum back to their side by winning four out of six first sets in singles play, and then tied the match up at 1-1 when Stropp downed LSU junior Mark Bowtell 6-4, 6-4 on Court 4.
The Maroon and White then took a 2-1 lead when 92nd-ranked Artem Ilyushin took down Skupski 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles, but Szacinski evened it back up at 2-2 for the Tigers as he cruised to a straight-set 7-5, 6-2 win over Chaudry on Court 3.
Carlsson dropped his first set 6-4 to No. 72 Cant on Court 5, but the Uppsala, Sweden, native battled back and evened the second set up at 5-5. Cant then rattled-off the next two games to win the match 6-4, 7-5 and put the Bulldogs back up 3-2.
With the match on the line, attention focused to Court 2 where sophomore Olivier Borsos was in a third-set battle with Coupland. Borsos, a product of Budapest, Hungary, cruised in the second set 6-1 after dropping the first set 4-6, and held a 4-3 advantage in the third set. Coupland responded to the challenge, however, and won the next three games to take the match 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 and seal the 4-2 victory for Mississippi State.
With the match already decided, play was allowed to finish on Court 6 where senior co-captain Julien Gauthier dropped a heartbreaker to Mississippi States Zach White 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) to make the final score 5-2.
“We felt good about getting the doubles point early, because I was concerned about a letdown after the win over Ole Miss on Friday,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “Mississippi State is really strong in their singles lineup from top to bottom. They played great and it turned out to be too much for us to overcome.”
With the loss, the Tigers fall to 5-8 on the season and 2-2 in SEC play, while the Bulldogs improve to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the conference. It was also snapped the Tigers five match win streak over the Bulldogs, which dated back to the 2007 SEC tournament, and it was the first regular season loss to Mississippi State since 2001. LSU still holds a 45-16-1 advantage over the Bulldogs all-time.
The Tigers will take the courts again on Thursday against 12th-ranked Michigan at 1 p.m. at the “Dub.” Admission to all home matches is free.
For up-to-date information and behind the scenes access to the Tigers, fans can follow the LSU men’s team on Twitter @lsutennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutennis.
#38 Mississippi State 5, #56 LSU 2
Singles competition
1. #92 Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. #69 Neal Skupski (LSU) 6-2, 6-4
2. George Coupland (MSU) def. Olivier Borsos (LSU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
3. Stefan Szacinski (LSU) def. James Chaudry (MSU) 7-5, 6-2
4. Malte Stropp (MSU) def. Mark Bowtell (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
5. #72 Louis Cant (MSU) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) 6-4, 7-5
6. Zach White (MSU) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3)
Doubles competition
1. #17 Sebastian Carlsson/Neal Skupski (LSU) def. Malte Stropp/Louis Cant (MSU) 8-5
2. Stefan Szacinski/Roger Anderson (LSU) def. George Coupland/James Chaudry (MSU) 8-4
3. Artem Ilyushin/Zach White (MSU) def. Julien Gauthier/Olivier Borsos (LSU) 9-8 (7)
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,1,3,5,2,6)