The LSU men’s and women’s tennis teams are ready to kick play up a notch Friday and Sunday as they open their Southeastern Conference schedules. The No. 18 Tigers (4-1) will travel Friday to Alabama to face the No. 20 Crimson Tide (8-3) at 1 p.m. They will then play at No. 35 Auburn (4-3) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Meanwhile, the No. 34 Lady Tigers (5-3) will play at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium on Friday against Alabama (3-5) at 3 p.m. and against No. 29 Auburn (8-2) on Sunday at noon. The men’s team is coming off a 5-2 win against Texas A&M at home this past weekend. All four of the Tigers’ wins this season have come at home. But men’s tennis coach Jeff Brown said the team is not worried about opening conference play on the road. “We had the one match on the road against a very good indoor team and highly-ranked team [Illinois],” Brown said. “You have a certain advantage when you play at home, but we hope we play well enough to win regardless of where we’re playing.” Brown said both teams should provide good competition on the court. “They’re both very good teams and very similar to us,” Brown said. “They’re teams that could end up in the top 10 in the rankings or somewhere in the 20s depending on how a few matches fall.” Freshman Sebastian Carlsson should help fuel the Tigers’ play this weekend. He was named the men’s tennis SEC Freshman of the Week on Tuesday, the first weekly award a Tiger has received this season. Carlsson has won nine of his past 10 matches this season, all in straight sets. He leads the team with 15 wins. “He’s managed everything very well, with perfect grades the first semester … he’s handling the physical demands of his first year with the conditioning and weights,” Brown said. “He’s extremely relaxed with everything he does on the court because he is so prepared.” Unlike the men’s team, the Lady Tigers are coming off a 5-2 loss this past weekend at the hands of Florida State. LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis said a key to success this weekend is improving play in three-set matches. The team was on the losing end of two against the Seminoles. “We put ourselves in a definite hole in a couple of positions and had to fight our way back,” Minnis said. Junior Staten Spencer suffered a hip injury against Florida State, and her status for the weekend is uncertain. “I might sit out in singles against Alabama so I can play both for Auburn,” Spencer said. “I got a cortisone shot so hopefully that will work some magic.”
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