BATON ROUGE, La.– LSU’s No. 17 duo of Boris Arias and Jordan Daigle took down the No. 1 doubles team in the nation in Florida’s Gordon Watson and Diego Hidalgo, 6-3 this afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge.
This is their second win over a No. 1 team this school year after defeating Georgia’s Austin Smith and Ben Wagland in the Oricle/ITA Masters event in September. Their win paved the way for court three’s duo of Gabor Csonka and Andrew Korinek to clinch the doubles point for LSU, 6-3.
“There were several momentum changes in this match,” Head Coach Jeff Brown said. “Us getting a ton of momentum in the doubles, to them kind of deflating our momentum by getting the edge in a lot of first sets in singles. We played great doubles obviously, beating the No. 1 team in the nation.”
Unfortunately the Tigers energy from the doubles point didn’t stay through singles play. With an early 6-0, 6-3 loss from Boris Arias on court four against No. 77 Alfredo Perez, Florida tied the team scores 1-1. LSU’s Justin Butsch played several close points on court two but ultimately was defeated 6-3, 6-4 by No. 22 Elliott Orkin.
On court six for the Tigers, Andrew Korinek played a tight first set but fell to McClain Kessier 7-5 and couldn’t come back in the second set, losing 6-2.
No. 42 Jordan Daigle, on court one, attempted to make an epic comeback after dropping his first set 6-0 against No. 50 Diego Hidalgo. In a point for point second set, Hidalgo edged out Daigle in a second set tiebreaker 7-6 (7-4) which clinched the match for the Gators.
The match continued with the final two courts which fell to freshman Nikola Samardzic on court five and sophomore Gabor Csonka on court three. Csonka, the only Tiger to win their first set, defeated No. 30 Chase Perez-Blanco 6-4, 7-5.
As the match looked to its final court, Samardzic was heading to make a third set comeback after losing his first set 4-6 but coming back in the second, 7-5. After losing while up 6-5, the final points fell to a tiebreaker with Samardzic playing strong. He only give up one point before concluding the match with a 6-1 tiebreaker score, the Tigers coming up just one behind Florida, 4-3.
“We certainly got a lot out of it today,” Head Coach Jeff Brown said. “For Nick (Samardzic), it was a great rise in his level, from where he was just a week ago to where he was able to play now is very exciting.
LSU returns home Sunday to face another SEC opponent in Auburn at 1 p.m., followed by a second match against Alcorn State.
For up-to-date information and behind-the-scenes access on the Tigers, fans can follow the LSU men’s tennis team on Twitter and Instagram at @lsutennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutennis.
Tennis Match Results
Florida Gators vs LSU
3/4/2016 at Baton Rouge, LA (LSU Tennis Complex)
#30 Florida Gators (M) 4, #32 LSU 3
Singles competition
1. #50 Diego Hidalgo (FLA) def. #42 Jordan Daigle (LSU) 6-0, 7-6 (7-4)
2. #22 Elliott Orkin (FLA) def. Justin Butsch (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Gabor Csonka (LSU) def. #30 Chase Perez-Blanco (FLA) 6-4, 7-5
4. #77 Alfredo Perez (FLA) def. Boris Arias (LSU) 6-0, 6-3
5. Nikola Samardzic (LSU) def. Gordon Watson (FLA) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (6-1)
6. McClain Kessler (FLA) def. Andrew Korinek (LSU) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #17 Boris Arias/Jordan Daigle (LSU) def. #1 Gordon Watson/Diego Hidalgo (FLA) 6-3
2. #32 Maxx Lipman/Elliott Orkin (FLA) vs. Tam Trinh/Justin Butsch (LSU) 5-4 unfinished
3. Gabor Csonka/Andrew Korinek (LSU) def. Josh Wardell/Alfredo Perez (FLA) 6-3
Match Notes:
Florida Gators (M) 6-3; National ranking #30
LSU 6-4; National ranking #32
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (4,2,6,1,3,5)
A-250