TULSA, Okla. — After collecting two wins to open the ITA Men’s All-American Championships Pre-Qualifying Rounds, LSU men’s tennis sophomore Nikola Samardzic fell in the ITA Men’s All-American Championships Pre-Qualifying Round of 32 and freshman Agie Moreno suffered a loss in the round of 64 Sunday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Samardzic advanced to the round of 32 after taking an early 7-5 set one lead on Ole Miss’ Ricardo Jorge and had the 4-3 lead in the second set before Jorge retired due to injury.
In his second match of the day, Samardzic fell to Yale’s Dylan King, 6-1, 6-3, and in only his third collegiate match, Moreno fell to Yale’s Dylan King, 6-1, 6-3.
“Nikola and Agie played very well against opponents who played at an extremely high level,” assistant coach Martin Stiegwardt said. “Nikola won a lot of good matches this weekend and continues to improve.”
Freshmen Julian Saborio and Rafael Wagner also competed in the pre-qualifying consolation rounds Sunday.
Wagner took a gritty straight-set victory against Columbia’s Jackie Tang, 6-4, 6-3, while Saborio fell in a hard-fought loss to Loyola Marymount’s Nicholas Borchenko, 7-5, 6-0.
Senior Justin Butsch and junior Gabor Csonka will join the team for the qualifying rounds on Monday, Oct. 3, and senior Jordan Daigle is set to begin competition in the main draw on Oct. 6.
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.
2016 ITA Men’s All-American Championships Pre-Qualifying
Oct. 1-2 at Tulsa, Okla. (Case Tennis Center)
Sunday, Oct. 2
Pre-Qualifying Singles Round of 64
Yannik James (Denver) def. Agie Moreno (LSU), 6-3, 6-4
Nikola Samardzic (LSU) def. Ricardo Jorge (Ole Miss), 7-5, 4-3, Ret. Injury
Pre-Qualifying Singles Round of 32
Dylan King (Yale) def. Nikola Samardzic (LSU), 6-1, 6-3
Pre-Qualifying Consolation Singles
Rafael Wagner (LSU) def. Jackie Tang (Columbia), 6-4, 6-3
Nicholas Borchenko (Loyola Marymount) def. Julian Saborio (LSU), 7-5, 6-0