ATHENS, Ga. — LSU’s Ajay Ramaswami, the 12th-ranked singles player in the nation, advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA singles championships on Friday with a convincing 6-2, 6-4, victory over Texas A&M’s No. 19 Shuon Madden here at the famed Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
“Ajay showed a great deal of intensity out there today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “He beat a very good opponent in Madden of Texas A&M, and I think that Ajay is really on the top of his game right now. His stock is continuing to rise as far as playing on the pro tour and I think that he has really turned some heads here this week.”
The 9-16 seeded Ramaswami became the first LSU men’s tennis player to reach the round of 16 at the NCAA singles championships since the former Tiger great Tamer El Sawy advanced to the semifinals in 1993.
With Friday’s win, Ramaswami improved to a 29-14 overall record on the season and earned his 19th victory of the year over a ranked opponent. He also avenged an earlier dual-match loss to Madden in which the Aggies’ No. 1 singles player defeated Ramaswami by an identical 6-2, 6-4, score in College Station, Texas.
“He (Madden) started off pretty slow in the match,” said Ramaswami. “So I jumped on whatever he gave me in the first set and took an early lead. I had a bit of a letdown in the second set and it could’ve gotten ugly, but I came up with a couple of good shots and closed it out. Tomorrow’s going to be tough. I’ve never played this guy (Al Garland) before, but he must be good if he made it to the final 16.”
Ramaswami, a 2001 singles All-American, will face Pepperdine’s 21st-ranked Al Garland on Saturday in the round of 16. The pair has never faced each other. The winner will advance to the quarterfinal round of the singles championships which will also be played on Saturday here in Athens, Ga.
In the opening round of the NCAA doubles championships, the Tigers’ 33rd-ranked tandem of junior Dan Kiernan and freshman Sebastian Rutka knocked off Kansas’ Rodrigo Echagaray and Eleazar Magellan, 7-6(5), 6-4, to advance to the round of 16.
“We played pretty well today,” said Rutka. “We were very aggressive out there and we did a good job of bouncing back early in the match when they broke us. We came right back and broke them as well, and that really gave us a boost. We weren’t playing all that well in the first set, but winning the tiebreaker really got us rolling.”
The Tigers’ combination of Kiernan and Rutka will face Southern Methodist’s third-ranked team of Johan Brunstrom and Jon Wallmark in the round of 16 on Saturday. It will be the first ever match-up between the two doubles pairs.
The 2001 NCAA singles and doubles championships are scheduled to continue here on Saturday at 8 a.m. (Central time) in the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
2001 NCAA Singles Championships
Second Round
#12 Ajay Ramaswami (LSU) def. #19 Shuon Madden (Texas A&M), 6-2, 6-4.
2001 NCAA Doubles Championships
First Round
#33 Dan Kiernan/Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Rodrigo Echagaray/Eleazar Magellan (Kansas), 7-6(5), 6-4.