In a St. Patrick’s Day duel against No. 16 Michigan, Irish eyes were smiling upon the LSU men’s tennis team.
The Tigers roared out to a 3-0 lead, aided by Ireland native and LSU junior Mark Bowtell, and held on to take down the Wolverines, 5-2.
Michigan is the highest-ranked opponent LSU has defeated since a 2008 win against No. 8 Florida.
Senior Sebastian Carlsson overcame an injury to clinch both the doubles and match points.
With him and fellow junior Neal Skupski leading their doubles match, 7-5, Carlsson sustained a wrist injury that required treatment from a trainer. However, the duo regrouped after dropping the next game to clinch the win and give LSU the doubles point.
Carlsson discussed with LSU coach Jeff Brown whether he was capable of playing his singles match, but insisted he could handle it.
With the Tigers looking at a 3-0 lead slipping from their grasp, the steady Carlsson rallied from behind in his second set to clinch the match with his 6-4, 7-6 (5) win, giving LSU an insurmountable 4-1 lead.
“It kind of typifies his whole career,” Brown said of Carlsson. “He’s been clutch for us. He’s won against long odds in some matches and found a way to win.”
Three matches had already finished as Carlsson and Michigan freshman Barrett Franks battled deep into the second set. Fans began to move over to the seats in front of Carlsson’s court, hoping to see the clinching win.
Meanwhile, he was trying to avoid checking to see if his teammates were holding on.
“It’s a lot of pressure, and it’s tough to not look at the other guys and what they’re doing,” Carlsson said. “You’ve got to just try to keep focusing. … It’s hard.”
Earlier in the match, it was the Irishman who put the Tigers on the brink of victory.
Bowtell, who had won just two of his last 10 matches, claimed a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory on court five to give LSU a commanding 3-0 lead in the match.
It was reminiscent of the Tigers’ 2007 St. Patrick’s Day victory against Texas A&M, when Dublin native James Cluskey provided the clinching point in a 4-3 win.
Bowtell said his teammates joked with him before the match about his compatriot’s feat four years prior.
“We all kind of knew a few years ago that Cluskey clinched on St Patrick’s Day, so it was pretty good,” Bowtell said.
Making the day better was the fact that Bowtell’s parents were in attendance while visiting from Ireland.
“It was nice to have them over because I hadn’t won in a while,” he said. “They were able to see the team win, and they had a good time, I think.”
Only a few minutes prior to Bowtell’s victory, sophomore Stefan Szacinski rolled past Michigan freshman Shaun Bernstein, 6-2, 6-1 to kick off singles play.
However, junior Ken Skupski faltered against No. 20 Evan King, taking a straight-set loss on court one, giving the
Wolverines hope the win could be salvaged.
After Carlsson’s clinching win, LSU split the last two matches to finish with a 5-2 win.