The LSU men’s tennis team will finally face a familiar opponent after playing and defeating Nebraska for the first time Tuesday.
The Tigers will host No. 2 Tennessee on Saturday at 1 p.m. at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium, four days after outlasting Nebraska, 4-3.
LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown said the come-from-behind win against the Cornhuskers, a ranked opponent, proved huge for the Tigers.
“It was an intense match,” Brown said. “Both teams were trying very hard, and it was a big win.”
The Tigers (7-9, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) will only play SEC opponents from here on out. It is hoped a good record in SEC play will boost the Tigers’ chances of getting a high NCAA seed, Brown said.
They’ll have to get past Tennessee (15-2, 5-0 SEC) first, who defeated LSU 7-0, last season, in Knoxville.
“They’ve had a great year,” Brown said. “They’re solid in doubles and pretty deep in singles.”
Brown said he thinks the Tigers have been peaking at the correct times and playing some of their best tennis to date. The team members have only minor injuries bothering them, he added.
“Everybody has something they are managing,” Brown said.
Senior Sebastian Carlsson returned to the lineup against Nebraska after sitting out against Georgia with a wrist injury.
Carlsson has been taping his wrist since then but said the injury hasn’t been bothering him too much.
“It’s getting better every day,” Carlsson said. “It didn’t affect me that much [against Nebraska]. When you get into the match, you don’t really think about it.”
The No. 12 duo of Carlsson and junior Neal Skupski will likely either face the No. 38-ranked team of Tennys Sandgren and Rhyne Williams or the No. 1 team of Boris Concik and John-Patrick Smith.
Carlsson said he and Skupski have been looking forward to facing their second No. 1 team this season. Whether that happens has been up in the air, as Concik has not played since Tennessee’s 4-2 win against Kentucky on March 11.
“Tennessee isn’t as healthy as they’ve been,” Brown said. “They had a few people injured during their loss to Baylor. We’ve played them before. We’re not intimidated. We know their personality.”
 
—————
Contact Katherine Terrell at [email protected]