The LSU men’s tennis team’s hope for success at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships is down to junior Chris Simpson after sophomore Boris Arias and the Tigers’ final remaining doubles pair were eliminated Monday and Tuesday.
Arias advanced to the final round of the singles pre-qualifier with three consecutive wins defeating Old Dominion’s Jonas Kuwert, Nils Schuhmann of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Kevin Metka of Ohio State. Ultimately, Arias’ run ended in a fourth round 6-1, 7-6 (4) loss to Oklahoma’s Austin Siegel on Monday.
Simpson begins his run in the main draw of the All-American Championships at 8 a.m. today against Tulsa’s Daniel Santos. The England native needs a quarterfinal appearance or better for automatic entry into United States Tennis Association/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship.
“I think Chris is off to a great start just earning his way into the main draw,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “He did well at the SEC Classic, and I know he’ll play hard and give it his best. Every match will be tough from here on out, so we’ll see how it plays out.”
The doubles pair of sophomore Tam Trinh and sophomore transfer Andrew Korinek made it past the first round of pre-qualifying play as the duo ousted Miami’s William Albanese and Diego Soto, 8-3, on Tuesday. But, the hot start ended quickly, as they lost to Clemson’s Hunter Harrington and Dominique Maden 8-5 in the second round, eliminating them from the tournament.
Arias lasted the longest among his singles teammates, as rounds two and three of the tennis tournament proved difficult for the Tigers.
Sophomore Harrison Kennedy earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Bradley University’s Arthur Romanet and then cruised past Texas A&M’s Max Montague 6-1, 6-0.
Kennedy’s third round opponent, Nebraska’s Dusty Boyer, put an end to Kennedy’s hopes of advancing to the 128-man qualifying draw and took the match 7-6 (4), 6-1.
The freshman players faced similar fates as they were all eliminated in the tournament’s earlier rounds, with Justin Butsch falling in the second round to Arizona’s Kieren Thompson 6-3, 6-3. Redshirt freshman Eric Perez lost 6-4, 6-0 to Wichita State University’s Ilija Cuic in the first round.
After advancing by default in the first round, redshirt freshman John Michael Busch lost 6-0, 6-3 to South Carolina’s Andrew Schafer.
“I think we got a lot accomplished,” Brown said. Boras and Kennedy especially played some tough matches deep in the qualifier. They’ll all be chomping at the bit to get back in there.”