NEW ORLEANS – The LSU men’s tennis team will go on the road for the first time this season and face Tulane Friday at 2 p.m. CT in the City Park Pepsi Center.
The match will be held alongside the LSU women’s tennis team’s match against Tulane.
Thoughts from the Co-Head Coach Chris Brandi
“Tulane is currently playing at a very high level with confidence,” co-head coach Chris Brandi said. “It is a great opportunity to pay a top team early in the season. It will be a lot of fun to play at the same time as our women in a tough environment. We will be ready to go.”
The Matchup
LSU is 4-1 to start the season while Tulane has started the season 4-0. The Green Wave is No. 17 in the latest ITA team rankings after defeating No. 18 Tennessee and No. 19 Florida State last weekend to earn a berth into the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Tulane holds the overall 48-30-2 record in the series history. Last time out, the Tigers fell to Tulane, 7-0, at the City Park Pepsi Center.
Tiger Tidbits
The Tigers reached the Jerry Simmons Invitational Championship last weekend. In the championship match, LSU’s top pair of Rafael Wagner and Joey Thomas convincingly defeated the No. 1 pair in the nation Constant De La Basse and Gabriel Nemeth, 6-1.
It was the first win for a pair against a top-10 doubles team since last season when Wagner and Agie Moreno defeated Jan Zielinski and Robert Loeb of Georgia, who were ranked No. 10 in the nation at the time.
It was also the first win for a doubles pair from LSU against a No. 1 foe since back-to-back doubles ITA All-Americans Jordan Daigle and Boris Arias compiled wins against Austin Smith and Ben Wagland of Georgia and Gordon Watson and Diego Hidalgo of Florida in the 2015-16 season.
Wagner is the No. 114 player in the nation in singles and has a 2-0 record on the season. Thomas and Malik Bhatnagar each have a team-best 4-0 record on the singles court to start the season.
Notes on the Opponents
Tulane has four singles players listed in the ITA rankings: No. 42 Luis Erlenbusch, No. 58 Tyler Schick, No. 120 Felix Ewers and No. 125 Tim Ruetzel. The Green Wave also has one doubles pair in the ITA rankings as Akos Kortorman and Ruetzel are No. 29.
Junior Ewan Moore was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the week after finishing the weekend 2-0 and clinching both matches on the No. 1 court at the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
Social Center
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.