The Tigers and Lady Tigers tennis teams each had one representative begin singles play at the NCAA championships on Wednesday.And each athlete will be moving on to the competition’s second round.LSU senior Michael Venus worked his way past Louisville’s Austen Childs in straight sets on the men’s side and will now take a six-match win streak into a Thursday matchup with San Diego’s Dean Jackson.”Michael came out looking sharp,” LSU men’s tennis coach Jeff Brown said in a news release. “It’s good to get through the first round in straight sets.”On the women’s side of things, senior Megan Falcon had to rally from behind to move on to the second round.Falcon dropped the first set to Michigan’s Chisako Sugiyama, 3-6, before bouncing back to win the second and third sets, 6-0 and 6-1, respectively.Falcon was originally scheduled to open the tournament against California’s Claire Ilcinkas, but Ilcinkas withdrew from competition following an injury Tuesday in the team national championship.”Megan started out a little tight but settled down to play some really good tennis,” LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis said in a news release. “Hopefully she can carry this momentum into tomorrow.”Falcon will now face South Carolina’s Gira Schofield on Thursday. The Lady Tiger is 3-0 against Schofield in her career.Both Venus and Falcon will also both begin doubles play Thursday.Venus and freshman Neal Skupski will open doubles competition against Sacramento State’s Kiryl Harbatsiuk and Anton Stryhas, while Falcon and fellow senior Mykala Hedberg will face SMU’s Marta Lesniak and Aleksandra Malyarschikova.”Megan and Mykala have been great, and they will certainly face a challenge,” Minnis said. “If they can gain the momentum that they played with early in the season I think they can do well.”—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]