Thursday, October 18
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
All Day
Mississippi State
vs
ITA Southern Regional Championships
Nuno Borges notched a straight-set victory on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the USTA Futures in Harlingen, Texas.
Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics
Borges Reaches Quarters At Harlingen Futures; Strickland Drops ITA Opener
October 18, 2018 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
HARLINGEN, Texas/TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – An impressive fall continued for Mississippi State's Nuno Borges on Thursday, with the senior taking a quick straight-set victory in the Round of 16 at the 2018 USTA Harlingen (Texas) Futures.
The two-time All-American Borges moved on to the quarterfinals by taking a 6-2, 6-3 decision against 2017 ITA Singles All-American Jack Findel-Hawkins (ATP 813).
Borges breezed through the first set, taking the 6-2 decision by once again holding serve effectively. Additionally, the Maia, Porto, Portugal, product took two of his three break point opportunities to go up a set.
In the second set, Borges picked up where he left off and did not have his serve broken the entire match—going an impressive 8-for-8 against Findel-Hawkins. Borges went on to cruise past the Brit with a 6-3 decision in the second to move on to Friday's quarterfinal match. There, the reigning SEC Player of the Year will take on former Memphis standout Andrew Watson (ATP 837), who reached the quarterfinals after playing through the qualifying draw.
ITA Southern Regional Qualifying
In Tuscaloosa, MSU sophomore newcomer Stedman Strickland kicked off his Bulldog career on Thursday in singles qualifying at the 2018 ITA Southern Regional Championships. The Jackson, Mississippi, native dropped a tough 6-3, 6-3 decision to Ole Miss rookie Jan Soeren Hain in the first round.
Strickland's day was not done, however, as he took on Samford's Rossouw Norval in consolation. In that match, Strickland continued his tough play, forcing a first set tiebreaker against Norval. There, the Samford sophomore took a 7-4 decision to take the set before taking the match with a 6-2 decision in the second set.
In the 32-player singles main draw which begins Saturday, MSU's fifth-ranked Giovanni Oradini earned the top seed and is set to take the court at approximately 1 p.m. Saturday. Also at 1, sophomore Florian Broska will face South Alabama's No. 122 Clement Marzol in the opening round while 109th-ranked senior Niclas Braun squares off against Alabama's Zhe Zhou.
At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, MSU's fourth-seeded and 43rd-ranked Strahinja Rakic will make his debut this weekend. At the same time, fellow senior Trevor Foshey will take on Tulane's Tim Ruetzel.
Last season's ITA Southern Regionals, held in Baton Rouge, La., saw an all-Bulldog singles final between Oradini and Rakic, with Rakic coming out on top in straight-set fashion.
On the doubles court, a pair of MSU duos garnered top-five seeds in this week's main draw in State's seventh-ranked duo of Braun and Oradini, seeded second, along with the fifth-seeded tandem of Broska and Rakic. Foshey and Strickland will also team up for the first time this weekend in the doubles main draw.
All three duos take the court at 9 a.m. Saturday in the second round (first-round byes), with Braun and Oradini taking on Samford's Jack Lyttle and Rossouw Norval. Broska and Rakic will face Auburn's Diego Chavarria and Lorenzo Rodriguez, while Foshey and Strickland square off against Mieszko Kwasnieweski and Jorman Reyes of Southern Miss.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
MSU at the 2018 USTA Harlingen Futures
October 18, 2018 – Harlingen, Texas (Harlingen Country Club)
Singles Main Draw
Round of 16 – Nuno Borges [3] def. Jack Findel-Hawkins 6-2, 6-3
MSU at the 2018 ITA Southern Regional Championships
October 18, 2018 – Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Alabama Tennis Stadium)
Singles Qualifying Draw
First Round – Jan Soeren Hain (Ole Miss) def. Stedman Strickland (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
Singles - Qualifying Consolation
First Round – Rossouw Norval (Samford) def. Strickland (MSU) 7-6(4), 6-2
Tournament seeding in brackets.
HARLINGEN, Texas/TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – An impressive fall continued for Mississippi State's Nuno Borges on Thursday, with the senior taking a quick straight-set victory in the Round of 16 at the 2018 USTA Harlingen (Texas) Futures.
The two-time All-American Borges moved on to the quarterfinals by taking a 6-2, 6-3 decision against 2017 ITA Singles All-American Jack Findel-Hawkins (ATP 813).
Borges breezed through the first set, taking the 6-2 decision by once again holding serve effectively. Additionally, the Maia, Porto, Portugal, product took two of his three break point opportunities to go up a set.
In the second set, Borges picked up where he left off and did not have his serve broken the entire match—going an impressive 8-for-8 against Findel-Hawkins. Borges went on to cruise past the Brit with a 6-3 decision in the second to move on to Friday's quarterfinal match. There, the reigning SEC Player of the Year will take on former Memphis standout Andrew Watson (ATP 837), who reached the quarterfinals after playing through the qualifying draw.
ITA Southern Regional Qualifying
In Tuscaloosa, MSU sophomore newcomer Stedman Strickland kicked off his Bulldog career on Thursday in singles qualifying at the 2018 ITA Southern Regional Championships. The Jackson, Mississippi, native dropped a tough 6-3, 6-3 decision to Ole Miss rookie Jan Soeren Hain in the first round.
Strickland's day was not done, however, as he took on Samford's Rossouw Norval in consolation. In that match, Strickland continued his tough play, forcing a first set tiebreaker against Norval. There, the Samford sophomore took a 7-4 decision to take the set before taking the match with a 6-2 decision in the second set.
In the 32-player singles main draw which begins Saturday, MSU's fifth-ranked Giovanni Oradini earned the top seed and is set to take the court at approximately 1 p.m. Saturday. Also at 1, sophomore Florian Broska will face South Alabama's No. 122 Clement Marzol in the opening round while 109th-ranked senior Niclas Braun squares off against Alabama's Zhe Zhou.
At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, MSU's fourth-seeded and 43rd-ranked Strahinja Rakic will make his debut this weekend. At the same time, fellow senior Trevor Foshey will take on Tulane's Tim Ruetzel.
Last season's ITA Southern Regionals, held in Baton Rouge, La., saw an all-Bulldog singles final between Oradini and Rakic, with Rakic coming out on top in straight-set fashion.
On the doubles court, a pair of MSU duos garnered top-five seeds in this week's main draw in State's seventh-ranked duo of Braun and Oradini, seeded second, along with the fifth-seeded tandem of Broska and Rakic. Foshey and Strickland will also team up for the first time this weekend in the doubles main draw.
All three duos take the court at 9 a.m. Saturday in the second round (first-round byes), with Braun and Oradini taking on Samford's Jack Lyttle and Rossouw Norval. Broska and Rakic will face Auburn's Diego Chavarria and Lorenzo Rodriguez, while Foshey and Strickland square off against Mieszko Kwasnieweski and Jorman Reyes of Southern Miss.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
MSU at the 2018 USTA Harlingen Futures
October 18, 2018 – Harlingen, Texas (Harlingen Country Club)
Singles Main Draw
Round of 16 – Nuno Borges [3] def. Jack Findel-Hawkins 6-2, 6-3
MSU at the 2018 ITA Southern Regional Championships
October 18, 2018 – Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Alabama Tennis Stadium)
Singles Qualifying Draw
First Round – Jan Soeren Hain (Ole Miss) def. Stedman Strickland (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
Singles - Qualifying Consolation
First Round – Rossouw Norval (Samford) def. Strickland (MSU) 7-6(4), 6-2
Tournament seeding in brackets.
Players Mentioned
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