Members of the LSU men’s tennis team were unable to win it all in the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Invitational this past weekend, but coach Jeff Brown was pleased with the results.
“We only took four of our players; we wanted to give them an opportunity to get started with that advantage, and I think they worked hard,” Brown said. “Olivier [Borsos] certainly had a good event for himself playing in four matches and getting into the finals. We got what we wanted out of the event.”
Borsos, senior Cody Loup and juniors Jordan Girdley and David Roberts started the fall 2010 season at Cajun Courts in Lafayette.
Borsos, participating in the flight A bracket, won three of the four singles matches in which he competed in. He started the first day with a pair of wins against Till Heilshorn of Ouachita Baptist and Ted Nilsson of ULL, winning the matches 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 and 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, respectively. The win against Nilsson clinched Borsos a spot in the semifinals.
The tournament continued the next day with Borsos matched up against Tulane’s Adam Bernstein, who had defeated Roberts the previous day. Unlike Roberts, Borso was able to overcome Bernstein in two consecutive sets, winning 6-0, 7-6 (4) and earning him a place in the flight A final.
Borsos was the only one of his teammates to make it to the finals in singles. Loup and Roberts lost in the first round of the tournament in the flight A singles bracket, and Girdley lost in the second round in the flight B bracket.
Day three marked the end of Borsos’ run as he lost to Yanick Mandl of ULL in the final. Borsos won the first set, which lasted a lengthy two hours but was unable to win the next two sets, ultimately losing 7-6, 1-6, 0-6. Brown said the length of the match had an effect on Borsos’ performance.
“With as hot as it was today it took a lot out of both of them,” Brown said. “It was more the other guy’s style of play to grind it out like that. Olivier doesn’t play that long of matches that frequently, and he had a couple of those during the tournament so I think that kind of wore on him a bit.”
Singles was not the only discipline in which the Tigers had success. Roberts and Girdley made it to the finals in flight B doubles but ultimately lost to Lamar’s        Carlos Valdenbro and Diego Snyder, 9-8 (10-8).
The Tigers compete next in the Southern Intercollegiates in Athens, Ga., Sept. 24 to 27. Brown said he’s expecting another breakthrough.
“We’re just looking for something out of each event, and Olivier was certainly the highlight out of this last week,” Brown said. “So next weekend in Georgia I think we’re going to take the same four guys. We’re looking for somebody to have another run to the finals or at least get a lot of work in.”
—
Contact Erin Henley at [email protected]