LSU sophomore Olivier Borsos raised his arms in triumph as Alabama’s Ricky Doverspike tossed his racket over the wall of W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium and into the abandoned Tiger Park in frustration.
The Tigers defeated Alabama 5-2 after Borsos outlasted Doverspike in a third-set tiebreaker to clinch the match point. Borsos won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8) in a back-and-forth battle that lasted almost three hours.
LSU (9-10, 4-4) led 3-2 with two matches still in play. Senior Mark Bowtell extended his match to three sets, behind 6-5 as Borsos won his tiebreaker.
Bowtell defeated Alabama’s Michael Thompson, 2-6, 6-3, 5-6, winning by retirement to earn LSU’s final point.
“Our normal clutch guys had a tough time and tough matchups, so for Olivier to ultimately win was big and Bowtell kept the pressure off of him,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “It was big for the team to see that they can win when maybe they aren’t playing their best.”
Borsos snapped a six-match losing sneak and earned his first win at Court 1. He said this win felt particularly important after losing a tiebreaker March 19 against Georgia’s Javier Garrapiz.
“I tried [having] a different attitude and a different tactic, and it worked,” said a smiling Borsos. “To play on Court 1 is an honor. It’s almost like playing a final, so you really want to win.”
LSU currently rides a two-match win streak, having defeated No. 18 Auburn, 5-2, on Friday. Brown said LSU got the monkey off its back after breaking a six-match losing streak to the Tigers.
“It was a big win. They are a very good team,” Brown said. “We shouldn’t have lost as many in a row to them. We were pretty even several times. …There was a lot to get off our back. … It was a lot to overcome mentally as well as physically.”
With LSU leading 3-2, junior Neal Skupski defeated Auburn’s Alex Stamchev, 7-6, 6-2, to clinch the match for the Tigers.
Senior Sebastian Carlsson extended the lead to five with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Daniel Cochrane on Court 4 to end the match.
The Lady Tigers (10-10, 4-4) defeated Auburn 5-2 at Yarbrough Tennis Center on Friday afternoon and lost to Alabama 7-0 on Sunday afternoon.
“Alabama played extremely well today,” LSU women’s coach Tony Minnis said in a news release. “We need to get home and refocus because we have a couple of tough matches next weekend.”
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will swap spots Friday. The Tigers will travel to Nashville to face Vanderbilt at Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Center and the Lady Tigers will host the Commodores at home.
 
 
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Contact Katherine Terrell at [email protected]