Despite early round exits, the LSU men’s tennis team found success at the John Breaux Cajun Tennis Classic this weekend at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette’s Culotta Tennis Center.
On Thursday, senior Jordan Daigle defeated Henry Ji of Southern California in straight sets 7-5, 7-5 to open the tournament. Bjorn Thompson of Texas Tech defeated Daigle in his second match of the day 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to eliminate Daigle from the singles tournament.
Senior Justin Butsch began the tournament ill on Thursday, and endured a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Leo Telles of Texas in his opening match. Butsch pushed his second match to three sets against Nils Ellefsen of Kentucky, but lost 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 to also finish eliminated from the singles tournament on the first day of the Cajun Classic.
Freshmen Rafael Wagner and Julian Saborio achieved the first wins of their college careers on Thursday.
Saborio defeated Silvio Cocito-Monoc of Louisiana-Lafayette, 6-3, 6-2, after losing to Brock Pennington of Kentucky, 6-3, 6-0, in his opening match. Wagner defeated Jamie Fraser of Louisiana-Lafayette in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 after dropping his first match 6-3, 6-2, to Tristan Meraut of Oklahoma State. They both advanced to the singles consolation bracket on Friday.
“It was a good experience for the freshmen to go through, and I was glad they both responded to the tough morning and were able to win in the afternoon,” coach Jeff Brown said in a press release. “The college game is about being able to respond and learning from your losses.”
On Friday, Wagner defeated Carlos Di Laura of Texas Tech 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the singles consolation quarterfinal on Saturday. Tim Sandkaulen of Ole Miss defeated Saborio 6-1, 6-3 to eliminate him from the singles consolation tournament.
Daigle and Butsch began the doubles tournament on Friday seeded No. 1 overall. They defeated Michael Kritzinger of Louisiana-Lafayette and Sandkaulen, 6-2, 6-4 and advanced to the quarterfinal. They defeated Di Laura and Connor Curry of Texas Tech 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals on Saturday.
Alex Sendegeya and Thompson of Texas Tech defeated Saborio and Wagner in the first round of the doubles tournament 6-3, 7-6.
Curry defeated Wagner 6-2, 6-1 in the singles consolation quarterfinals on Saturday; finishing Wagner’s collegiate debut.
Daigle and Butsch defeated Jack Jaede and Thibault Forget of Southern California, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, to advance to the doubles final on Sunday afternoon. Sendegeya and Thompson defeated Daigle and Butsch 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 in the doubles final.
