LSU men’s tennis coach Jeff Brown is no stranger to the coach of his club’s opponent this weekend at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
Tulane coach Mark Booras served under Brown for 10 seasons in Baton Rouge from 1999 to 2008, aiding the Tigers (8-1) to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, four Sweet Sixteen appearances and one Final Four. Booras was even named the 2007 Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Assistant Coach of the Year.
For the fourth straight season, Brown’s and Booras’ squads will meet up, but on Sunday at 2:30 p.m., the Green Wave (9-1) will present a new challenge for the Tigers.
Tulane is off to its best spring season start since Booras took over and has the current ITA No. 5 singles player, junior Dominik Koepfer, on its roster. Green Wave freshman Constantin Schmitz is also 9-0 in singles to start the spring season.
While he commended Booras’ accomplishment of bringing back the program from a three-year hiatus after Hurricane Katrina, Brown joked there’s still an incentive to beat the in-state foe.
“[Booras] and I have familiarity, and I have a lot of respect for him with what he’s done with the program, taking it after Katrina,” Brown said. “Him bringing that program back, I know the difficulties he’s faced. But we still want to beat their brains out, of course.”
If there is a rivalry, Brown said his team isn’t focused on outside pressures to beat the Green Wave. The Tigers are more focused on the current Tulane team that has swept three of its 10 opponents this season.
However, Tulane hasn’t tallied a victory in a doubles or singles match in the three previous appearances against the Tigers.
“We know that they’re a very good team that’s had a history of being a top-20 program that’s on their way back,” Brown said. “There’s some external pressures, but we deal with that a lot. I don’t think the team feels it. I think they see it as an opportunity [to play] a good, ranked team on their home courts.”
Meanwhile, LSU has won five straight matches, all at home, losing only one match between doubles and singles in the process.
The Tigers’ lone loss was junior Andrew Korinek’s 0-6, 6-2, 4-6 singles defeat against Rice sophomore Max Andrews on Jan. 15. Despite his loss, Korinek had been battling injuries and was glad to be back on the court.
“I hadn’t been playing a whole bunch, but it was definitely good to get out there for three sets,” Korinek said. “The first set was a little bit rough, but I definitely felt a lot better as the match went along.”
After the Tigers and Green Wave face off Sunday, LSU will begin its Southeastern Conference slate against Tennessee in Baton Rouge.
Korinek said matches like the one he had against Rice will aid him down the stretch against conference opponents.
“It’s definitely really important to get a few matches before SEC play, because you got to get used to playing at that high level,” Korinek said. “[Andrews] was a good player, and the ball was coming back pretty quick, the timing and the speed of the game definitely speeds up when you get back out there.”
You can reach James Bewers on Twitter @JamesBewers_TDR.