The LSU men’s tennis team was perfect in two doubles matches and six singles matches on Saturday afternoon, shutting out Purdue, 7-0, in front of a nice size crowd at “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
The Tigers (4-1), coming off a tough loss to No. 18 TCU in last weekend’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff final, were dominant from the start Saturday. The doubles pairing of junior Boris Arias and sophomore Jordan Daigle made quick work of the Boilermaker (2-3) duo of Arthur Dobradin and Mateus Silva with a 6-0 victory.
Junior Tam Trinh and sophomore Eric Perez, LSU’s top doubles team, battled with Purdue’s Diego Acosta and Ricky Medinilla, but ultimately prevailed, 6-4, to capture the doubles point for the Tigers.
LSU coach Jeff Brown likes the way his doubles lineup is developing and said his team is tough to beat when it wins the doubles point.
“This is a team that I’m confident that if we do drop a doubles point, we’re still going to have an opportunity,” Brown said. “But when we win it, we’re really going to be a difficult challenge for teams. When it does go our way, I do feel good, but I’m not afraid to take this team down 1-0 against a lot of teams.”
In singles, it was more of the same for the Tigers. Arias didn’t drop a game on the day, defeating Renan Hanayama, 6-0, 6-0, achieving the first singles victory for LSU.
Sophomore Justin Butsch was nearly as effective as Arias, cinching an easy 6-0, 6-1 win for the Tigers. Senior Chris Simpson won all six games in his first set, but Acosta made the second set a bit more difficult before Simpson secured the third singles victory, 6-0, 6-4.
The match was finally decided on freshman Simon Freund’s extended singles victory. After Freund dropped the first set to Lucas Dages, 6-1, the freshman battled back for a 6-1 second set win. The third set was not decided until Freund reached his 15th point, winning by two, 15-13.
For Arias, his singles victory kept him unbeaten on the season. Though he’s taking it one match at a time, each win will aid him in the long run.
“Always, winning gives you confidence,” Arias said. “Every time you win, it gives you confidence for the next match. You feel more comfortable playing. I think that’s what gave me more confidence for [today’s] matches.”
LSU will take on Wisconsin at home at 11:00 a.m Sunday. The Badgers (1-3) fell to Tulane on Saturday morning, 4-0.
