Razorback Men's Tennis sends four to quarterfinals in Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. – Razorback Men’s Tennis sent four to the quarterfinals at the LSU Tournament on Friday afternoon, with Nico Rousset advancing to the semifinals in the Tiger Draw tomorrow.

Following a bye in the first round, Rousset picked up the win over Rafael Wagner of LSU after the Tiger player was forced to retire in the third set. The two were even with one set apiece, 2-6, 6-4, 3-4, before the match was ended.

Hunter Harrison and Aleksa Bucan both advanced out of the first round in the Purple Draw. Harrison picked up a straight-set win over Tomas Descarrega of LSU, 6-4, 7-5. The senior then fell to the third seed of the draw, Nemanja Malesevic, 6-1, 6-3. Bucan battled back against Malik Bhatnagar of LSU after dropping the first set, 3-6. He took the next two sets, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the quarters. He then dropped his match against the four seed, Guido Marson of Texas A&M, 6-1, 6-4.

Maxim Verboven, who played most of the 2020 spring schedule at the No. 1 spot, easily dropped Stedman Strickland of Mississippi State in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. He then took the first set in the quarterfinals against third-seeded Noah Schacter of Texas A&M, 6-0, but dropped the next two, 7-6, 6-1.

“We had a good first day. Good to have Nico [Rousset] in the semifinals. I think the best thing was the incredibly grateful feeling from all four SEC teams that we are competing,” head coach Andy Jackson said.

Action from Baton Rouge will continue tomorrow and Sunday. Fans can follow along with the scores here.