TALLAHASSEE – The 16th-ranked Florida State men’s tennis team opens the dual-match portion of its schedule with two matches in Hawai’i this weekend. FSU plays its first spring match Friday at Hawai’i and compete against Cal on Sunday, also in Honolulu.
The Seminoles, who boast three of the nation’s top-53 singles players, return seven contributors from last year’s team that advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.
Florida State is led by junior Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc, who is the No. 12 singles player in the nation. He finished his fall schedule with a 13-3 overall record after advancing to the semifinal round of the ITA Fall Championships in San Diego. The Lyon, France, native defeated six ranked opponents in the fall, including two top-10 wins, and all three of his losses were to the eventual champion in each tournament.
Sophomore Youcef Rihane is the No. 24-ranked singles player nationally after posting an 11-3 record in the fall, while fellow sophomore Jamie Connel is 53rd in the country. Rihane, from Algiers, Algeria, won the singles title at the Destin Invite and defeated three ranked opponents at the ITA All-American Championships. Last season, Rihane earned 15 singles wins in dual-match play, including a team-best seven singles wins against ACC opponents, and 12 doubles victories.
Connel, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, was the 2022 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year while playing at Furman. He finished last season with an 18-5 singles record and was ranked as high as 29th nationally. After joining FSU, he was 11-2 in the fall and wrapped up his schedule with a victory in the Bedford Cup that saw him drop only one set in a four-match sweep through the bracket.
Junior Loris Pourroy returns following a first-team All-ACC season last year. The Gap, France, native posted a 15-8 record from the No. 1 singles position and also won 13 doubles matches. He entered the national singles rankings on Feb. 23 and remained there the rest of the season, rising as high as No. 44. Pourroy qualified for the NCAA Singles Championships after beating six ranked opponents throughout the season.
Sophomore Joshua Dous-Karpenschif and junior Andreja Petrovic tied for the team lead with 21 total singles victories last season. Dous-Karpenschif, who also led the team with 20 doubles wins, was the 2022 ITA Southeast Region Rookie of the Year. His win with Maks Silagy clinched the doubles point for…