Mississippi State
SEC Indoor Championships
MSU Tennis Endures Disappointing Opening Day At SEC Indoors
January 15, 2010 | Men's Tennis
"The effort we are used to seeing was not there today," said third-year head coach Per Nilsson. "If you don't show up to play in our league, you get beat. It was very disappointing and something we will fix for tomorrow's matches."
MSU's senior Chris Doerr tallied the first win for the Maroon and White with his two-set takedown over Alabama's Creighton Blanchard, 6-3, 6-4. State's 125th-ranked sophomore Artem Ilyushin defeated Ole Miss' Jaime Vazquez Catoira in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. Bulldog sophomore Louis Cant won his first round match over Antoine Benneteau of Florida in a three set battle, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Four Bulldogs slipped up in the first round of action. State's sophomore Daniel Sanchez fell to 39th-ranked Alex Musialek of Kentucky in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Newcomer Hrehan Hakeem of the Bulldogs fell in a two-set bout to Nassim Slilam of Florida, 6-3, 6-1. Junior Tanner Stump of MState slipped up to Anthony Rossi, 6-4, 6-3. Bulldog sophomore Max Gregor Smith had to end his match early to LSU's Mark Bowtell because of injury.
Sophomore George Coupland of MSU entered the SEC Indoor Championships as the fifth overall seed and received a first round bye. In his opening match in the second round, Coupland fell to Georgia's Bo Seal, 6-3, 6-4. MState's Doerr faced a tall task in the second round, going up against No. 2 nationally ranked John Patrick Smith of Tennessee. Doerr fell in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Bulldogs' Ilyushin lost a tough three-set bout to Tennessee's Davey Sandgren, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-0. MSU's Cant slipped up in the second round to 26th-ranked Neal Skupski of LSU, 6-4, 7-6(5).
In doubles action, the Bulldog tandem of Sanchez and Stump advanced to the second round by default after the Florida duo of Carlos Cueto and Billy Federhofer withdrew. The Georgia doubles team of Drake Bernstein and Javier Garrapiz took down MSU's Cant and Doerr, 8-2, in first round play. MSU's duo of Hakeem and Smith lost a tight match to Florida's Sekou Bangoura and Joey Burkhardt, 8-6.
MState will begin consolation play tomorrow with four Bulldogs participating. In doubles play Sanchez and Stump of State will serve up against the Ole Miss duo of Chris and Marcel Thiemann. After receiving a first round bye, the Bulldog tandem of Coupland and Ilyushin will battle against Kentucky's doubles team Alberto Gonzalez and Alex Lambropoulos.
SEC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
1/15/10 - Atlanta, Ga.
SINGLES
First Round - Chris Doerr (MSU) def. Creighton Blanchard (Alabama) 6-3, 6-4; #39 Alex Musialek (Kentucky) def. Daniel Sanchez (MSU) 6-2, 6-3; Nassim Slilam (Florida) def. Hrehan Hakeem (MSU) 6-3, 6-1; #125 Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Jaime Vazquez Catoira (Ole Miss) 6-1, 6-2; Louis Cant (MSU) def. Antoine Benneteau (Florida) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; Anthony Rossi (Kentucky) def. Tanner Stump (MSU)6-4, 6-3; Mark Bowtell (LSU) def. Max Gregor Smith (MSU) 6-1, 2-1, ret.
Second Round - #2 John Patrick Smith (Tennessee) def. Doerr (MSU) 6-3, 6-1; Bo Seal (Georgia) def. George Coupland (MSU)6-3, 6-4; Davey Sandgren (Tennessee) def. #125 Ilyushin (MSU) 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-0; #26 Neal Skupski (LSU) def. Cant (MSU) 6-4, 7-6(5).
DOUBLES
First Round - Sanchez/Stump (MSU) def. Carlos Cueto/Billy Federhofer (Florida) by default; Drake Bernstein/Javier Garrapiz (Georgia) def. Cant/Doerr (MSU) 8-2; Sekou Bangoura/Joey Burkhardt (Florida) def. Hakeem/Smith (MSU) 8-6.
