BATON ROUGE — Senior Michael Venus will compete as the seventh seed in singles and as the third seed in doubles with partner Neal Skupski at the NCAA Championships held in College Station, Texas on May 20-25 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, the NCAA announced on Wednesday.
The singles and doubles competition will begin following the team championships slated for May 14-19.
In addition to being named the third seed at the NCAA Championships, the Tiger tandem of Venus and Skupski jumped to No. 2 in the Campbell/Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls following the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The pair defeated two nationally-ranked opponents, including top-ranked duo Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge of Ole Miss, bringing the LSU duo to a 13-7 record.
Venus and Skupski defeated 23rd-ranked Diego Cubas and Ivan Machado, 8-4, in the first round of competition as LSU squared off with South Carolina.
In the second round, Venus and Skupski faced and defeated Berg and ten Berge for the second time this season by dealing the No. 1 team in the nation a final blow of 8-4. The LSU duo defeated Berg and ten Berge when the Ole Miss tandem held the No. 2 spot in the ITA polls in Baton Rouge on April 10 by the same 8-4 mark.
Venus remained among the top 10 in singles, posting at No. 7 after picking up a win against Cubas and Berg and the SEC Tournament, and pushing his dual record to 13-6.
Venus took down South Carolina’s No. 51 Cubas, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 in his first singles matchup of the tournament before defeating 16th-ranked Jonas Berg of Ole Miss in straight-sets, 6-3, 7-5, on day two of competition.
Venus and Skupski return to action along with the rest of the Tigers as LSU hosts its NCAA Regional Tournament. In the first round, the Tigers (10-11) square off with the Rice Owls in a match on May 8 slated for 1 p.m. CDT in W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
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