BATON ROUGE, La – The LSU Men’s Tennis team (6-1) had a double-header Sunday, February 4 at the LSU Tennis Complex. The match day for the Tigers started out against Rice (4-3) at 12 p.m. CT. Following that match, LSU took on Nicholls (1-2) at 4:45 p.m.
LSU vs. Rice
Doubles
The Tigers started the match strong taking the doubles point. On the No. 1 court, Stefan Latinovic and Aleksi Lofman teamed up against Yasha Zemel and Trinity Grear. Latinovic and Lofman quickly earned the first win of the day, winning 6-3. The Tiger duo improved to a 2-0 record in doubles on the No. 1 court.
Rice gained their first win of the day when Kabeer Kapasi and Petro Kuzmenok defeated Julien Penzlin and Alessio Vasquez, 6-3.
The Tigers earned the doubles point when Welsh Hotard and George Stoupe won their match on the No. 2 court. Hotard and Stoupe put up a fight against Arthus de la Bassetiere and Eduardo Morias, narrowly winning 7-5. Hotard and Stoupe improved their perfect record, making it 3-0 on the No. 2 court.
Singles
The Tigers started off singles with a loss on the No. 2 court. Lofman fell to Grear 6-2, 6-3, with Rice gaining their only point of the match.
Penzlin won his court and put the Tigers back in the lead after defeating Kapasi at the No. 6 court, In the first set between Penzlin and Kapasi, they went to a tiebreaker. The first set went to the Tigers with Penlin winning 7-6(5). Penzlin quickly added to the board in the second set, winning 6-3.
Latinovic kept the momentum from his doubles win and gained another point for the Tigers. Latinovic quickly defeated Zemel in the first set 6-3. The second set went to a tie-breaker with Latinovic winning 7-6(6). Latinovic now has a 4-0 record on the No. 1 court.
Dong made it 4-1 in the match and clinched the team win for the Tigers with a win at the No. 5 court. Dong faced Petro Kuzemenok in three sets. In the first set, Dong fell 5-7. Dong won the second set 6-3, forcing the third set. Dong earned another point for the Tigers, winning 6-2.
Rudy Ceccon also went to three sets in his singles match, but pulled out the win on the No. 3 court. Ceccon fell in the first set to Bassetiere 6-3. He fought back in the second, winning 6-4, then narrowly claiming a 7-5 win in the third set.
Stoupe earned the final point for the Tigers in his singles match. Stoupe faced Emir Sendogan in three sets. In the first set, Stoupe quickly won 6-3. Sendogan fought back in the second set defeating Stoupe 6-3. In the third set, Stoupe and Sendogan battled it out to take the lead in a tie-breaker. Stoupe ended the match defeating Sendogan 7(12)6-(10). His win finalized the match score at 6-1 in favor of the Tigers.
LSU vs. Nicholls
Doubles
The Tigers kept the momentum from the first match in doubles against Nicholls. On the No. 3 court, Julien Penzlin and Chen Dong teamed up against Gerhard Venter and Omar Morsy. Penzlin and Dong won 6-2 in their first match teamed up together in the dual 2024 season.
Welsh Hotard and Ben Koch clinched the doubles point on the No. 2 court. Hotard and Koch defeated Harry Collins and Kotaro Matsumura 6-3.
Singles
The Tigers won five out of six singles courts against the Colonels.. After clinching the doubles point, Koch earned the first singles win of the match. He defeated Ventar on the No. 6 court in a quick match winning 6-1, 6-0.
Lofman made his first appearance of the season on the No. 1 singles court. Lofman bounced back from defeat in his singles match from earlier against Rice, defeating Morsy in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.
Hotard secured the win on the No. 5 court and extended LSU’s lead to 3-0. Hotard defeated Sasso in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 to increase his record on the No. 5 court to 3-2.
Vasquez competed on the No.4 court for the first time this season. He faced Matsumura, and only dropped three games total, winning the first set by a score of 6-1 and then taking the second 6-2.
The final win of the day was secured by Rudy Ceccon on the No. 2 court. Ceccon went to three sets in his match against Lamothe. In the first set, Ceccon quickly won 6-1. Lamothe fought in the second set and tied it up by winning 6-2. In the third set, Ceccon finished the match strong, winning 10-4.
Nicholls gained their only point of the day on the No. 3 court as Collins defeated Dong.. The first set went to a tie-breaker with Collins defeating Dong 7-6(4). In the second set, Dong fell 6-4.
Up Next
The Tigers will take on Tulane on Wednesday, February 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the LSU Tennis Complex.
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Results
LSU 6, Rice 1
Doubles
1.Latinovic/Lofman (LSU) def. Zemel/Grear (Rice) 6-3
2.Hotard/Stoupe (LSU) def. Bassetiere/Morias (Rice) 7-5
3.Kapasi/Kuzmenok (Rice) def. Penzlin/Vasquez (LSU) 6-3
Singles
1.Stefan Latinovic (LSU) def. Yasha Zemel (Rice) 6-3, 7-6(6)
2.Trinity Grear (Rice) def. Aleksi Lofman (LSU) 6-2, 6-3
3.Rudy Ceccon (LSU) def. Arthus de la Bassetiere (Rice) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
4.George Stoupe (LSU) def. Emir Sendogan (Rice) 6-3, 3-6, 7(12)-6(10)
5.Chen Dong (LSU) def. Petro Kuzmenok (Rice) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
6.Julien Penzlin (LSU) def. Kabeer Kapasi (Rice) 7-6(5), 6-3
Match Notes
Order of Finish:
Doubles (1,3,2) ; Singles (2,6,1,5,3,4)
LSU 6 , Nicholls 1
Doubles
1.Latinovic/Lofman (LSU) vs. Sasso/Lamothe (NSU), Unfinished
2.Hotard/Koch (LSU) def. Collins/Matsumura (NSU) 6-3
3.Penzlin/Dong (LSU) def. Venter/Morsy (NSU) 6-2
Singles
1.Aleksi Lofman (LSU) def. Omar Morsy (NSU) 6-1,6-1
2.Rudy Ceccon (LSU) def. Quentin Lamothe (NSU) 6-1, 2-6, 10-4
3.Harry Collins (NSU) def. Chen Dong (LSU) 7-6(4), 6-4
4.Alessio Vasquez (LSU) def. Kotaro Matsumura (NSU) 6-1, 6-2
5.Welsh Hotard (LSU) def. Antonio Sasso (NSU) 6-3, 6-3
6.Ben Koch (LSU) def. Gerhard Venter (NSU) 6-1, 6-0
Match Notes
Order of Finish:
Doubles (3,2) ; Singles (6, 1, 5, 4, 2, 3)