The No. 24 LSU men’s tennis team got off to a fast start en route to beating South Florida 5-2 over the weekend.
The Tigers set the tone by quickly winning the doubles point. LSU earned decisive wins from the duos of senior Roger Anderson and freshman Tam Trinh, and freshman Boris Arias and senior Olivier Borsos, 8-2 and 8-3, respectively.
LSU carried the momentum from the victories into singles play. Every Tiger took at least a 2-0 lead to open the match, and they would all win their first sets.
“Getting out to six first set wins will lend itself to winning,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “These guys are really working hard, and we saw [results] of that today.”
Anderson extended the lead to 2-0 after he dispatched his opponent 6-0, 6-2. Not long after, sophomore Chris Simpson pushed it to 3-0, beating No. 105 Federico Sabogal 6-1, 6-4.
Senior Mark Bowtell clinched the match for LSU after he defeated Ravi Patel 6-1, 6-3.
Although the match was in hand, there was still reason for concern on the court.
Senior Olivier Borsos had to receive medical attention for a lower leg injury during the second set of his match.
“Borsos was in a boot for about a month-and-a-half at the end of last summer, so he is still trying to get back to match shape,” Brown said. “I think he will be back to full strength by the beginning of conference play in March.”
It was evident Borsos hit a wall after the first set as Oliver Pramming went on to win the match for USF, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.
Senior Stefan Szacinski also needed some medical attention during his match. He chalked it up to the wear and tear accumulated over the years and was not concerned about it affecting him moving forward.
Both Szacinski and Trinh were only in their second sets when LSU took the match. In order to speed up the close of the match, they played a 10-point super tiebreak in place of a regular set.
The super tiebreak format yielded a mixed bag as Trinh powered through to win his match 6-4, 4-6, 1-0. Szacinski, visibly weary from a long match, fell to Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz, 7-6, 1-6, 0-1.
“It was a great team effort all around today,” Szacinski said.
Next up for the Tigers is a home doubleheader featuring Rice at 1 p.m. followed by Prairie View at 6 p.m on Feb. 10.
