Though LSU men’s tennis won their first six matches, not many expected the outcome that occurred Thursday night. From the beginning, there were no questions, only dominance as the Tigers swept the Red Raiders 4-0 in what some would call an upset and others would call a true showing of LSU’s talent.
“In these next two matches honestly, we’re the underdogs, which is going to be fun. We’ve been favored in every match so far this year and we’ve had all of the pressure,” Coach Chris Brandi said last weekend after a 6-1 victory against Incarnate Word. Up to that point, the Tigers had six victories and zero losses, but they hadn’t necessarily proved themselves.
That is, until Wednesday night. The Tigers showed up in Dallas ready to control the courts. They did that and more, putting their underdog status in jeopardy for future matches.
From the get-go, the Tigers left no doubt. The No. 60 ranked Ronald Hohmann and Rafael Wagner swiftly handled the strong Texas Tech duo of Parker Wynn and Reed Collier (both of which are ranked in singles) by a score of 6-1. Boris Kozlov and Nick Watson followed suit with a 6-1 victory of their own to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
That energy was carried into singles. Through the first sets, the Tigers had control of five out of six courts, some of which were convincing 3-4 game leads.
The first to complete his match was Boris Kozlov, who controlled the first set (6-3) before sweeping the second (6-0). The next two points would soon follow.
Benjamin Ambrosio would continue his early success with the Tigers, earning a 6-4, 6-2 victory. He, along with other freshman Joao Graca, has yet to drop a set.
And last but not least, No. 99 Ronald Hohmann would earn his first ranked win of the season, defeating Texas Tech’s No. 93 Ilgiz Valiev in just two sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4. It was a huge confidence boost for him, and he was very excited about the win.
“Personally, I felt very good in the singles,” Hohmann said after the win. “It was the best match I’ve played all year.”
He was also proud of the way his team played, believing that this is a sign that they’ve improved a lot recently.
“Our team in general is improving every single match and to sweep a team like Texas Tech is very good for us,” Hohmann stated. “Now we keep it going Sunday.”
This was a huge win for the Tigers, whose last top-25 win was in 2019 against No. 25 Arkansas. The team will look to carry that success into its next match, another tough one against in-state rival Tulane.
