LEXINGTON, Ky. – The LSU men’s tennis team begins a weekend of Southeastern Conference road matches with a competition slated against No. 23 Kentucky at 4 p.m. CT Friday in the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
The Tigers will then travel to Nashville for a match against Vanderbilt at noon CT Sunday.
Thoughts from the Co-Head Coach Chris Brandi
“The guys had an opportunity to really train for a few days over spring break after playing three matches against great competition,” co-head coach Chris Brandi said. “Kentucky and Vanderbilt are always good, and this year is no different. We need to come out with the right intensity from the first point on Friday to try and sink our teeth into the match.”
The Matchup
LSU has the all-time 32-18 advantage against the Kentucky Wildcats. The Tigers and Wildcats met last season at the LSU Tennis Complex where Kentucky walked away with the 5-2 win. LSU duo Gabor Csonka and Julian Saborio took a doubles win on court two against Ryotaro Matsumura and Trey Yates.
Tiger Tidbits
The Tigers are 8-10 on the season, 1-5 in SEC play, and looking to capture their first road win of the season.
Last time out, the Tigers fell to Memphis, 5-2, but captured the doubles point and had a promising court four win by sophomore Saborio. After falling behind in the first set, Saborio worked in the three-set thriller to take a win from Memphis’ Felix Rauch, marking his fifth singles win in the dual season.
On court three, Rafael Wagner has a 7-4 overall record. The sophomore has a team-best 15 wins.
The doubles pair of Shane Monroe and Stewart Block has a team-best nine wins on court three. Moreno and Wagner are 5-3 on the second court and are 1-1 on court one with a top-10 victory on the top court.
Notes on the Wildcats
Kentucky has an overall record of 12-6 and are 5-2 in conference play. The Wildcats are coming off of a 5-2 loss at Mississippi State entering Friday’s competition.
Matsumura is the only Wildcat ranked in singles action, and he sits at No. 26. There are two Kentucky pairs ranked in doubles: No. 31 Cesar Bourgois and Gus Benson and No. 73 Yates and Enzo Wallart.
Matsumura leads the team with a 13-1 overall record split between courts one and two. His only loss this season is on the second court. Wallart is the only other wildcat with double-digit singles wins as he has a 10-4 overall record split between courts one, three and four.
In doubles action, Benson and Bourgois have a 5-3 record on the top court and Matsumura and Wallart are 4-4 on court two.
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