A stellar weekend for Nuno Borges resulted in his first SEC Player of the Week honor.
Borges Claims SEC Player of the Week Honor
March 01, 2017 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – After a dominant weekend on the tennis court, sophomore and fourth-ranked singles player Nuno Borges was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced on Wednesday.
Borges earned his 11th ranked singles win of the season over the weekend, while extending his perfect record at the No. 1 position (9-0) and at home (13-0) in singles play for the Mississippi State men's tennis team.
"It's a great honor to be named the SEC Player of the Week," Borges said. "I'm happy to receive such a recognition and it really is a team award because we've pushed each other so hard to get better and develop. This award will be a motivator to perform even better as the SEC season starts this Sunday."
Wednesday's SEC Player of the Week honor was the first of Borges' career, while becoming the first time a Bulldog has earned the award since Mate Cutura on April 8, 2015.
"We're very happy for Nuno and excited to see what else he has in store for the rest of the season," head coach Matt Robert said. "Nuno has been a rock for us in singles all season long and this honor is a recognition of all his hard work for the entire season so far."
Over the weekend, Borges downed No. 37 Constantin Schmitz of Tulane and No. 58 Nick Horton of NC State to lead the Bulldogs in back-to-back ranked wins over the 22nd-ranked Green Wave and 38th-ranked Wolfpack. The wins for Borges in singles play improved his overall record to 19-3 on the season, while extending his perfect dual-match record in singles action to 7-0.
Borges also shined in doubles play for the Bulldogs, as the sophomore partnered with Strahinja Rakic to defeat two teams by a 12-1 margin over the weekend. The doubles victories for Borges and Rakic moved their record as a pair to 8-6 on the season, which ranks second best on the team.
"The most impressive thing for our coaching staff was how Nuno stepped up in doubles play last weekend with Strahinja Rakic," Roberts said. "They're still learning a lot in doubles and learning how to adapt their game styles to who they're playing. We did a lot of work with them leading up to their matches and for them to have two really solid doubles wins for us was probably one of the biggest positives from the weekend."
In his first season with the Bulldogs, Borges earned one SEC Freshman of the Week honor while also taking home three end-of-the-year distinctions after being named to the All-SEC Second Team, SEC All-Freshman Team and SEC All-Tournament Team last season.
For his career, the sophomore Bulldog has earned a total of 40 career singles wins and 16 career ranked singles wins. Borges is also 27-4 in dual-match singles play and 15-1 for his career against ITA Southern Region opponents.
"We're so proud of Nuno and how driven he is," Roberts said. "He manages school well, works hard every day and is a great team leader for us. He's getting more mature and handling his emotions better and better each time out."
Up Next
The Bulldogs travel to Auburn on March 5 at 1 p.m. CT to open SEC play. MSU's next home match will be a doubleheader against Alcorn State on March 7 at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. CT.
Additional Notes
Social Media
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Borges earned his 11th ranked singles win of the season over the weekend, while extending his perfect record at the No. 1 position (9-0) and at home (13-0) in singles play for the Mississippi State men's tennis team.
"It's a great honor to be named the SEC Player of the Week," Borges said. "I'm happy to receive such a recognition and it really is a team award because we've pushed each other so hard to get better and develop. This award will be a motivator to perform even better as the SEC season starts this Sunday."
Wednesday's SEC Player of the Week honor was the first of Borges' career, while becoming the first time a Bulldog has earned the award since Mate Cutura on April 8, 2015.
"We're very happy for Nuno and excited to see what else he has in store for the rest of the season," head coach Matt Robert said. "Nuno has been a rock for us in singles all season long and this honor is a recognition of all his hard work for the entire season so far."
Over the weekend, Borges downed No. 37 Constantin Schmitz of Tulane and No. 58 Nick Horton of NC State to lead the Bulldogs in back-to-back ranked wins over the 22nd-ranked Green Wave and 38th-ranked Wolfpack. The wins for Borges in singles play improved his overall record to 19-3 on the season, while extending his perfect dual-match record in singles action to 7-0.
Borges also shined in doubles play for the Bulldogs, as the sophomore partnered with Strahinja Rakic to defeat two teams by a 12-1 margin over the weekend. The doubles victories for Borges and Rakic moved their record as a pair to 8-6 on the season, which ranks second best on the team.
"The most impressive thing for our coaching staff was how Nuno stepped up in doubles play last weekend with Strahinja Rakic," Roberts said. "They're still learning a lot in doubles and learning how to adapt their game styles to who they're playing. We did a lot of work with them leading up to their matches and for them to have two really solid doubles wins for us was probably one of the biggest positives from the weekend."
In his first season with the Bulldogs, Borges earned one SEC Freshman of the Week honor while also taking home three end-of-the-year distinctions after being named to the All-SEC Second Team, SEC All-Freshman Team and SEC All-Tournament Team last season.
For his career, the sophomore Bulldog has earned a total of 40 career singles wins and 16 career ranked singles wins. Borges is also 27-4 in dual-match singles play and 15-1 for his career against ITA Southern Region opponents.
"We're so proud of Nuno and how driven he is," Roberts said. "He manages school well, works hard every day and is a great team leader for us. He's getting more mature and handling his emotions better and better each time out."
Up Next
The Bulldogs travel to Auburn on March 5 at 1 p.m. CT to open SEC play. MSU's next home match will be a doubleheader against Alcorn State on March 7 at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. CT.
Additional Notes
- No. 4 Nuno Borges has never lost a singles match at home (13-0)
- Borges is undefeated against opponents at the No. 1 position (9-0)
- Borges leads the Bulldogs with a 19-3 record overall in singles
- The sophomore leads the team in singles win percentage as well at .864
- Borges is on a seven-match winning streak in singles play
- Two players have won the SEC Player of the Week honors under head coach Matt Roberts (Mate Cutura & Nuno Borges)
- The Bulldogs have won seven weekly awards under Roberts since 2015
Social Media
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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