Five players from the LSU men’s tennis team competed in pre-qualifying for the ITA All-American Championships on Saturday and Sunday, with sophomore Boris Arias advancing to the final round of qualifying.
Arias advanced to the final round of pre-qualifying after defeating Hawaii’s Nils Schuhmann 7-5, 6-1 in the second round of the tournament. Arias played his third round match later that day, defeating Ohio State’s Kevin Metka in a three-set thriller.
Arias lost the first set, then battled to bring the second set to a tie at 3-3 before ultimately taking the set 6-4. He eventually came out victorious, winning the third set 6-2.
LSU coach Jeff Brown attributed Arias’ success in the long tournament to improved strength from last season.
“[Arias] has gotten a little stronger; he’s tall and thin, but he’s added strength to his frame,” Brown said. “It’s helping his movement and some of his shots.”
The win advanced Arias to the final round of pre-qualifying, which will take place at 8 a.m. Monday.
If Arias reaches the qualifying stage of the tournament he will join LSU junior Chris Simpson, who was able to forgo pre-qualifying because of his No. 29 singles ranking. Simpson is looking to follow last weekend’s strong performance in the Southeastern Conference Fall Classic where he won four singles matches including one nationally ranked opponent before being eliminated.
“I think [Simpson] deserved to finally have a week like that, where he worked hard, he got himself mentally ready for it,” Brown said. “It’s important when you feel like you put in the work to actually get the reward.”
Brown said the confidence from last weekend’s success will give Simpson the ability to play a little freer now that he has a couple of wins under his belt.
Simpson will take the court Tuesday at the conclusion of the pre-qualifying event.
Arias wasn’t the only Tiger that experienced success in the pre-qualifying stage, though.
Sophomore Harrison Kennedy served Arthur Romanet of Bradley University a 6-3, 6-4 defeat in the first round of the pre-qualifier and followed the victory with a dominating 6-1, 6-0 win over Texas A&M’s Max Montague.
Kennedy eventually suffered defeat in the third round of the tournament at the hands of Nebraska’s Dusty Boyer, but the performance impressed Brown, with his improvement on the mental side of the game being key to the victory, Brown said.
“[Harrison] has raised his expectations and improved his focus from last season,” he said. “That has really helped him a lot.”
Brown said Kennedy has already reached the high level of play he reached toward the end of last season.
Sophomores John Michael Busch and Andrew Korinek secured wins on the first day of pre-qualifying as well as freshmen Eric Perez and John Butsch. The young Tigers battled through tough conditions that saw matches delayed several times throughout the day due to weather.
All four Tigers were eventually eliminated in the second round.
The performances from some of the younger Tiger players pleased Brown, especially in light of the delays.
“It was a difficult day with the rain and conditions, but the guys kept their focus and we had a good day overall with some young guys getting some wins,” Brown said. “We’re looking for better weather [today] and looking forward to competing.”