The LSU men’s tennis team wrapped up the University of South Florida Fall Invitational and the fall season with three singles victories and three doubles victories Sunday in soggy Tampa, Fla.
Rain suspended singles play on Friday morning after doubles play. LSU, Florida A&M, USF and Troy resumed play later in the day, but the rain began again and postponed the remaining Friday matches to Saturday.
With more rain falling Saturday morning, LSU coaches came to an agreement with the coaches of Florida A&M to leave Friday’s matches unfinished, much to the Tigers’ disappointment.
“We wanted to play, but we couldn’t do anything about it,” said coach Jeff Brown.
Sunday marked sophomore John Michaelis’ first tournament of his LSU career. He earned an 8-5 doubles win for his first LSU victory in his first match, alongside senior David Roberts. Despite going 0-2 in singles, Michaelis added another doubles victory later in the tournament.
“He’s been working hard in practice, and he got two doubles wins,” Brown said. “It’s nice to see that happen to somebody who’s working hard to move up in the squad.”
Junior Stefan Szacinski and partner sophomore James Turbervill won Sunday, 8-5, and sophomore Matt Zachary and senior Tom Knights blew away their opposition with an 8-1 victory.
Knights, Zachary, and Roberts also earned singles victories Sunday. Michaelis, Turbervill and Szacinski each dropped their Sunday matches.
“We had some ups, we had some downs,” Brown said. “But everybody competed with the right mindset.”
Singles play in the tournament was highlighted by Szacinski’s upset victory against No. 104 Wael Kilani of USF, 6-4, 7-5, on Saturday.
Szacinski’s singles victory Saturday was the only win the Tigers got that day, with the other five singles players and all three doubles teams losing.
“It was pretty much as good as competition has been,” Brown said. “A lot of the guys were playing up in their position, so that’s going to happen.”
The Tigers enter a tennis hiatus with the end of the USF Fall Invitational. With no tournaments until the first week of January, Brown emphasized the need for the team to finish strong academically and to get more fit for the spring season.
“[The break] gives us time to get healthy,” Brown said. “We need them to hit the books, hit the weight room … get them a little stronger, and have them take care of their classes, and get ready to come