LSU men’s tennis (6-0) has gotten off to a great start that has produced six straight wins and a perfect record. The only problem is they haven’t played any major opponents yet.
On paper, 6-0 is 6-0, but the matchups and scores imply that LSU needs to do more if they want to be included in the top-25 conversation. If they had dominated every single match, perhaps they would be in high consideration right now.
For example, the Tigers seemed to fall asleep against an inferior UL-Lafayette opponent a couple matches ago, giving up three points at the end of the match to make the score a lot closer than it should have been. Given that the Ragin’ Cajuns are now 1-5 on the year, that 4-3 victory is looking more and more unimpressive.
The Tigers, for the first time this season, will be considered underdogs for their matchup against Texas Tech, and will likely be underdogs for the next few matches after that unless they impress on Thursday. Coach Chris Brandi doesn’t seem to mind that idea, and even welcomes it.
“In these next two matches honestly, we’re the underdogs, which is going to be fun,” Brandi said. “We’ve been favored in every match so far this year and we’ve had all of the pressure.”
Despite the close matches, the Tigers have handled the pressure of them respectively well. It’ll be interesting to see how they perform now that the pressure isn’t on them.
Texas Tech (2-0) finished last season ranked No. 27 on a 12-5 record. However, when it came to ranked competition, the Red Raiders struggled, finishing with a 2-5 record against top-50 opponents.
Based on the fact that LSU finished in the top 50 last season, added multiple potential stars through recruiting and have started 6-0, it’s likely that LSU would be in the top-50 if they announced it now. So it isn’t entirely unreasonable that LSU has a chance of pulling off the upset.
But they’ll have to get past a stacked singles squad that features three ranked players: No. 37 Parker Wynn, No. 93 Ilgiz Valiev and No. 115 Reed Collier. Singles tends to be where LSU struggles the most, so it’ll definitely be a challenge.
Brandi is aware of the challenge LSU is facing, but he is excited to get to gauge where the team is at and where they’re heading.
“Texas Tech is top-25 and they’ve been playing really well over the past couple of years,” Brandi mentioned. “We’re excited to see what our guys are made of, but at the level we’re at, every week is going to be tough, and every match is going to be a battle.”
The match kicks off at 3:30 PM on Thursday and will be played at the Lakewood Country Club in Dallas, TX. This will be the first time the Tigers are on the road, but it’s considered a neutral venue.
