Ferguson and Armengaud claim title

The weekend didn’t begin the way junior Lachlan Ferguson and sophomore Maxime Armengaud had hoped, but they righted the ship and won seven matches at Virginia’s Ranked Plus One Invitational.

The IU men’s tennis duo rebounded from an opening-round loss to take first place in the A-1 doubles consolation bracket.  Ferguson and Armengaud knocked off the Tennessee team of Taylor Patrick and Bryan Swartz in the consolation semifinal and then hung on for a 9-7 win against Alberto Gonzalez and Alex Musialek of Kentucky in the final.   

IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said it took a match or two for his two players to realize they could compete with the high-caliber field of players.

“They really picked their level up over the last two days,” Bloemendaal said. “We won seven of our last eight matches, but for us to win championships and get through to the next level, we have to move up in the pecking order.  

“The thing you have to understand is the talent level is no different. It’s like watching the football game this weekend – I don’t think there was a difference between Michigan and Indiana. I don’t see a difference in talent level out here on the tennis court, either. With the pecking order, certain guys feel like they should walk off and win. Nobody is going to open the door for you.”

Armengaud also had some success in singles competition.

After losing a tough three-set match to No. 62 Viktor Maksimcuk of Louisville, Armengaud defeated Radford’s Zack Watson and Mid Tennessee State’s Victor Melo in back-to-back matches.

Ferguson, who was playing in only his second tournament since having an operation this summer, also lost his singles opener before winning consecutive matches on Sunday.

“This definitely helped our confidence, because we were able to win a few matches in the last two days,” Armengaud said. “It should help us not only during the spring season, but also in some of the upcoming national tournaments.”