The LSU men’s tennis team defeated South Carolina for the second time this season as the No. 8-seed Tigers won their first-round match of the Southeastern Conference tournament, 4-2, against the No. 9-seed Gamecocks.
The LSU doubles team of senior Michael Venus and freshman Neal Skupski, ranked third in the nation, knocked off No. 23 Diego Cubas and Ivan Machado, 8-4. LSU clinched the doubles point when sophomore tandem Sebastian Carlsson and Julien Gauthier also won their match, 8-4.
“We continued playing well in doubles,” LSU men’s head coach Jeff Brown said in a news release. “It proved to be a very important point for us. I thought everyone did a great job of having good energy whether they were up or down.”
In singles, Venus — ranked No. 6 nationally — came back to win his match in three sets against No. 51 Cubas, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Skupski also fought a three-set battle against South Carolina’s Jaime Cuellar. In the third set, Skupski fell behind, 5-3, before winning four straight games to take the set and the win for the Tigers, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5.
LSU will next take on No. 1 overall seed Ole Miss at 11 a.m. Friday. The Rebels beat the Tigers, 5-2, in Baton Rouge on April 10.
 
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