Five Bulldogs Move Into Singles Round Of 16 At ITA Southern Regionals

Saturday, October 20

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

All Day

Mississippi State

ITA Southern Regional Championships

Giovanni Oradini (right) went a combined 3-0 Saturday at the 2018 ITA Southern Regional Championships.

Five Bulldogs Move Into Singles Round Of 16 At ITA Southern Regionals

October 20, 2018 | Men's Tennis

2018 ITA Southern Regional Championships HQ Live Video (Courts 1-6)

by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Mississippi State's men's tennis team made it a clean sweep in singles Saturday.

All five Bulldogs entered in the 2018 ITA Southern Regional Championships were victorious in the opening round, moving into Sunday's Round of 16. State is the only school in the field with five players remaining in the main draw.

Leading the way was MSU's top-seeded and fifth-ranked Giovanni Oradini, who cruised past Auburn's Brandon Laubser 6-4, 6-2. The 2018 All-American will face LSU's Malik Bhatnagar Sunday at 9 a.m. in the Round of 16.

State sophomore Florian Broska cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 victory over 122^nd-ranked Clement Marzol of South Alabama. He will take on Tulane's seventh-seeded and 60^th-ranked Ewan Moore Sunday.

Bulldog senior veteran Niclas Braun, ranked 109^th nationally, rallied from a set down to defeat Zhe Zhou of tourney host Alabama 1-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 Saturday in his opener. Braun will battle Dane Esses of Tulane Sunday at 9 a.m.

Fourth-seeded and 43^rd-ranked MSU senior Strahinja Rakic fended off South Alabama's Sacha Modica for a 6-3, 7-6(3) triumph in his first-round match. The All-American will take on Rafael Wagner of LSU Sunday morning in the Round of 16.

Rounding out MSU's perfect day of singles action was Trevor Foshey, as the 2018 SEC Tourney MVP rallied from a set down to down Tulane's Tim Ruetzel 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. The senior faces Ole Miss' second-seeded and 14^th-ranked Tim Sandkaulen Sunday.

In doubles action earlier in the day, State's second-seeded and No. 7-ranked tandem of Braun and Oradini won a pair of 8-3 contests to advance to Sunday's quarterfinals. After a first-round bye, the MSU pair rolled past Samford's team of Jack Lyttle and Rossouw Norval. Braun and Oradini followed that up with a Round of 16 victory over Tom Cecchetto and Chung Han Tsai of Southern Miss. The State duo will meet Alabama's sixth-seeded team of Patrick Kaukovalta and Alexey Nesterov at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

State's other doubles duos fell in their opening contests Saturday. MSU's fifth-seeded tandem of Broska and Rakic was upended 8-1 by Diego Chavarria and Lorenzo Rodriguez of Auburn. Foshey and Stedman Strickland dropped an 8-3 decision to Southern Miss' Mieszko Kwasnieweski and Jorman Reyes.

Two rounds of singles and one round of doubles will be contested Sunday.

For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

MSU AT THE 2018 ITA SOUTHERN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Oct. 20, 2018
Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Alabama Tennis Stadium

DOUBLES – MAIN DRAW
Second Round - Diego Chavarria/Lorenzo Rodriguez (Auburn) def. Florian Broska/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) [5] 8-1; Mieszko Kwasnieweski/Jorman Reyes (Southern Miss) def. Trevor Foshey/Stedman Strickland (MSU) 8-3; #7 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) [2] def. Jack Lyttle/Rossouw Norval (Samford) 8-3

Round of 16 – #7 Braun/Oradini (MSU) [2] def. Tom Cecchetto/Chung Han Tsai (Southern Miss) 8-3

SINGLES – MAIN DRAW
First Round – #5 Oradini (MSU) [1] def. Brandon Laubser (Auburn) 6-4, 6-2; Broska (MSU) def. #122 Clement Marzol (South Alabama) 6-4, 6-2; #109 Braun (MSU) def. Zhe Zhou (Alabama) 1-6, 7-6(7), 6-2; #43 Rakic (MSU) [4] def. Sacha Modica (South Alabama) 6-3, 7-6(3); Foshey (MSU) def. Tim Ruetzel (Tulane) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4

Numbers preceding names are current ITA national rankings; tournament seedings are in brackets