PALO ALTO, Calif. – The eighth-ranked LSU men’s tennis doubles pair of senior Sebastian Carlsson and junior Neal Skupski are set to compete in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Doubles Championships on Thursday at the Taube Tennis Center in Palo Alto, Calif.
Carlsson and Skupski, who received a 5-8 seed as an at-large selection, will square off against the 20th-ranked Texas Tech pair of Raony Carvalho and Rafael Garcia in the first round. The match time has yet to be decided, but the match will not start before 4 p.m. CT due to singles competition earlier in the morning.
The bracket will include a 32-pair draw with competition based on the best of three sets. Regular scoring and a 12-point tiebreaker at six games all will be used for all matches.
“It’s a great accomplishment for Neal and Sebastian to be invited to this tournament,” LSU assistant coach Danny Bryan said. “They’re looking forward to competing tomorrow, and they know they have a real tough match against a strong Texas Tech team.”
Skupski and Carlsson dominated the top doubles court for the Tigers this spring, notching an 18-7 dual match record and posting a 7-3 mark in conference play. Including the fall tournament season, the tandem is 28-11 on the year. The twosome also picked up wins over eight nationally ranked pairs, including the then-top ranked Texas A&M duo of Jeff Dadamo and Austin Krajicek, and Gerogia’s fifth-ranked Javier Garrapiz and Hernus Pieters.
Carvalho and Garcia are 12-11 in dual matches this spring for the Red Raiders, and earned an 8-1 victory over Carlsson and Skupski back in January at the ITA Kickoff Classic in Lubbock, Texas.
The selection marks the third-straight year Skupski’s been invited to the NCAA Championships. In 2009 he paired with former Tiger standout Michael Venus in the Doubles Championships, and last season he traveled alone to compete in the 2010 Singles Championships.
Back in 2005, Neal Skupski‘s older brother Ken Skupski and his doubles partner Mark Growcott advanced to the championship match at the Doubles Championships before falling to Georgia’s John Isner and Antonio Ruiz in the finals.
Live scoring and video for all matches of the tournament will be available at www.GoStanford.com.
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.