BATON ROUGE – The LSU Men’s Tennis team participated in two separate events on Friday at the Cajun Classic in Lafayette and the SEC Classic in Gainesville, Florida. Both competitions offered several chances to shine for the Tigers.
LSU continued their success at the Cajun Classic in Lafayette as No. 49 Chris Simpson followed up his strong first day with more of the same as he qualified for the semifinals. The doubles team of juniors Tam Trinh and Andrew Korinek also qualified for the semifinals.
Simpson (No. 49), whose second round match was suspended due to weather yesterday, opened the day with a tough 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-0 victory over senior Arnau Dachs from TCU which made him the second Tiger to qualify for the quarterfinals in the tournament. He lined up against Georgia junior Nick Wood (No. 89) for the quarterfinals where he won by a score of 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Simpson will face Georgia freshman Wayne Montgomery in the semifinals on Saturday.
In doubles, Trinh and Korinek got things going with a 8-7 (3) victory over Wake Forest juniors Antony Delcore and Sam Bloom before defeating TCU senior Will Stein and freshman Trevor Johnson 8-6 to secure a spot in the semifinals. The duo is set to face Texas junior Michael Riechmann and freshman John Mee at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“Another good day,” said assistant coach Danny Bryan. “Tam and Korinek played well and were able to advance to the semis of doubles. Looking forward to tomorrow’s matches.”
In Gainesville, the Tigers opened tournament play at the SEC Classic and had two players, sophomore Justin Butsch and junior Boris Arias, advance in singles play. Butsch defeated Tennessee senior Andrew Dromsky 6-2, 6-2 and Arias prevailed over Mississippi State freshman Harrison O’Keefe 6-7, 6-2, 6-1.
Junior Harrison Kennedy and sophomore John Michael Busch will play in the consolation singles bracket starting Saturday.
“We were able to get Boris and Justin through after a few tough matches in the morning,” head coach Jeff Brown said. “Harrison and John Michael will look to get their first wins tomorrow. It is a strong field with most SEC teams looking improved from an already strong conference last year”
Both the Cajun Classic and SEC Fall Classic will reopen tomorrow with several Tigers still in the mix.
2014 Cajun Classic
Lafayette, Louisiana
Sept. 18-21
Day 2 Results
Singles
Arjun Kadhe (Oklahoma State) def. Tam Trinh (LSU), 6-1, 6-3
#49 Chris Simpson (LSU) def. Arnau Dachs (TCU) 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-0
#49 Chris Simpson (LSU) def. #89 Nick Wood (Georgia), 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
Dachs/Nunez (TCU) def. Daigle/Simpson (LSU), 8-7 (5)
Trinh/Korinek (LSU) def. Bloom/Delcore (Wake Forest), 8-7 (3)
Trinh/Korinek (LSU) def. Stein/Johnson (TCU), 8-6
2014 SEC Fall Classic
Gainesville, Florida
Sept. 19-22
Day 1 Results
Singles
Justin Butsch (LSU) def. Andrew Dromsky (Tennessee), 6-2, 6-2
Rishab Agarwal (MSU) def. Simon Freund (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
Boris Arias (LSU) def. Harrison O’Keefe (South Carolina), 6-7, 6-2, 6-1
Andrew Schafer (South Carolina) def. Harrison Kennedy (LSU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
Lakat/Cruz (MSU) def. Busch Kennedy (LSU), 8-3
Schmid/Cash (MSU) def. Butsch/Freund (LSU), 8-5