LSU men’s tennis (8-3) is in the midst of one of the toughest portions of its season, facing three ranked teams in the span of a week. None of these teams are tougher than No. 11 Florida, which features five ranked players in singles (tied for the most in the country).
On paper, the Tigers couldn’t handle the Gators, and that turned out to be a reality. Though some matches were closer than others, LSU couldn’t crack the scoreboard, suffering its second straight sweep of the season in a 7-0 rout.
Halfway through doubles, it appeared the Tigers had a good chance of earning the point. Ronald Hohmann and Rafael Wagner held a 3-0 lead against the No. 45 duo in the country and Court Five was in a back-and-forth battle that could have gone either way.
That opportunity closed quickly, however, as Hohmann and Wagner choked their lead away and couldn’t bounce back. Joey Thomas and Joao Graca would also lose on Court Three, as the Tigers would fall in doubles 0-2.
It looked bleak from the beginning of singles too, with Courts Three through Six all suffering quick first-set losses. The only court to finish the first set with a win for the Tigers was Court One, as Ronald Hohmann gave his Top-15 opponent, No. 12 Duarte Vale, a run for his money.
Through the first set, things were looking good for No. 99 Hohmann, and he was able to clutch the set with a 6-4 victory. He struggled in the second set though and gave the momentum back to Vale, dropping six out of seven points to lose it 1-6.
It would all come down to set three, which would play out as a tiebreaker set.
Hohmann would give it his all, shown by his constant hustle and emotion after earned and lost points. It didn’t appear to be enough at the beginning though, as Vale jumped out to a 7-1 lead that transitioned to a match point at 9-3.
However, things would change.Hohmann would catch fire just as it seemed like the match was lost, playing six match points in a row on the way to a legit chance to win.
After getting the score to 8-9, he would fight extremely hard to even the score, but Vale would ultimately come out on top. Had Hohmann not let his emotions get the better of him through that 1-7 skid, he definitely could have pulled out a win, and Co-head Coach Andy Brandi expressed that fact.
“When you let your emotions get in the way, no matter what your talent is, it nullifies it,” Brandi stated. “You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t control yourself and take advantage of the opportunities that are presented in front of you, you’re not going to cash in and that’s exactly what happened today.”
“His emotions got in the way, and he fell short of beating a very good player.”
The score was 7-0, but the team had opportunities to put points on the board. A lack of confidence and loss of momentum are to blame for its downward spiral, Brandi said.
“We had opportunities. The issue is, I don’t believe they really believed that they had chances to win those matches,” he said. “When they become more confident in themselves, trust in themselves and believe in themselves, that match could’ve been more interesting.”
The Tigers will have a chance to redeem themselves against No. 20 South Carolina. They square off at 1 p.m. Sunday at the LSU Tennis Complex.
On paper, the Tigers couldn’t handle the Gators, and that turned out to be a reality. Though some matches were closer than others, LSU couldn’t crack the scoreboard, suffering its second straight sweep of the season in a 7-0 rout.
Halfway through doubles, it appeared the Tigers had a good chance of earning the point. Ronald Hohmann and Rafael Wagner held a 3-0 lead against the No. 45 duo in the country and Court Five was in a back-and-forth battle that could have gone either way.
That opportunity closed quickly, however, as Hohmann and Wagner choked their lead away and couldn’t bounce back. Joey Thomas and Joao Graca would also lose on Court Three, as the Tigers would fall in doubles 0-2.
It looked bleak from the beginning of singles too, with Courts Three through Six all suffering quick first-set losses. The only court to finish the first set with a win for the Tigers was Court One, as Ronald Hohmann gave his Top-15 opponent, No. 12 Duarte Vale, a run for his money.
Through the first set, things were looking good for No. 99 Hohmann, and he was able to clutch the set with a 6-4 victory. He struggled in the second set though and gave the momentum back to Vale, dropping six out of seven points to lose it 1-6.
It would all come down to set three, which would play out as a tiebreaker set.
Hohmann would give it his all, shown by his constant hustle and emotion after earned and lost points. It didn’t appear to be enough at the beginning though, as Vale jumped out to a 7-1 lead that transitioned to a match point at 9-3.
However, things would change.Hohmann would catch fire just as it seemed like the match was lost, playing six match points in a row on the way to a legit chance to win.
After getting the score to 8-9, he would fight extremely hard to even the score, but Vale would ultimately come out on top. Had Hohmann not let his emotions get the better of him through that 1-7 skid, he definitely could have pulled out a win, and Co-head Coach Andy Brandi expressed that fact.
“When you let your emotions get in the way, no matter what your talent is, it nullifies it,” Brandi stated. “You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t control yourself and take advantage of the opportunities that are presented in front of you, you’re not going to cash in and that’s exactly what happened today.”
“His emotions got in the way, and he fell short of beating a very good player.”
The score was 7-0, but the team had opportunities to put points on the board. A lack of confidence and loss of momentum are to blame for its downward spiral, Brandi said.
“We had opportunities. The issue is, I don’t believe they really believed that they had chances to win those matches,” he said. “When they become more confident in themselves, trust in themselves and believe in themselves, that match could’ve been more interesting.”
The Tigers will have a chance to redeem themselves against No. 20 South Carolina. They square off at 1 p.m. Sunday at the LSU Tennis Complex.
