Tuesday, October 23
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
All Day
Mississippi State
vs
ITA Southern Regional Championships
Niclas Braun (right) captured a pair of titles for Mississippi State on Tuesday, winning the ITA Southern Region doubles crown alongside Giovanni Oradini (left) before claiming the singles crown.
Men’s Tennis Sweeps ITA Southern Regional Titles
October 23, 2018 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It was a clean sweep for Mississippi State men's tennis on Tuesday at the 2018 ITA Southern Regional Championships.
State started off the day taking the doubles crown, with seventh-ranked and second-seeded Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini battling back from a set down to oust South Alabama's sixth-ranked Loic Cloes and Clement Marzol—the tournament's top seed.
After dropping a tough 6-3 decision in the first, the Bulldog duo held serve to take a 2-1 lead in the second set and never looked back, taking the next four games to force a 10-point tiebreaker to decide the match.
The breaker was back-and-forth the whole way, with no side leading by more than two points. Momentum swung in favor of the Maroon and White when it held to take a 7-6 lead. From there, Braun and Oradini held off the tough Jaguar pair to take a 3-6, 6-1, 1-0(8) victory. Since opening the season 0-3, Braun and Oradini have been on a tear—winning eight straight matches.
In the singles final between the 109th-ranked Braun and fellow MSU senior Trevor Foshey, Braun gained a quick 3-0 advantage. However, like he has done all week in Tuscaloosa, Foshey bounced back—winning six of the next seven games to take the first set, 6-4.
Braun then took another three-game lead at 4-1 in the second but staved off another Foshey rally to take the second set by a 6-3 mark and force a third frame to decide the regional singles crown.
Foshey took a 3-0 lead to start the third frame, but the Berlin, Germany, native Braun battled back, winning the final six games to take the singles title, breaking Foshey at love to earn the 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 triumph
Braun and Oradini had already clinched a spot in the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships by winning the ITA All-American Championships' consolation doubles draw earlier this month but solidified their bid with this week's doubles crown. Braun and Foshey earned automatic bids to the November tourney in Surprise, Ariz., by each reaching the singles final in Tuscaloosa this week.
Next Up For MSU …
A pair of pro tournaments await the Bulldogs later this week, when senior Nuno Borges travels to Charlottesville, Virginia, for the ATP Charlottesville Challenger. The Maia, Porto, Portugal, native will open up in the singles qualifying draw on Oct. 27. The rest of the Bulldogs will make a short trip over to Birmingham, Alabama, for the Players Choice Open—a USTA Futures tournament, that opens with singles qualifying on Oct. 26.
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
October 23, 2018 – Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Alabama Tennis Stadium)
Singles - Main Draw
Final – #109 Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Doubles - Main Draw
Final – #7 Braun/Giovanni Oradini [2] (MSU) def. #6 Loic Cloes/Clement Marzol [1] (South Alabama) 3-6, 6-1, 1-0(8)
ITA national rankings precede names, tournament seeding in brackets.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It was a clean sweep for Mississippi State men's tennis on Tuesday at the 2018 ITA Southern Regional Championships.
State started off the day taking the doubles crown, with seventh-ranked and second-seeded Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini battling back from a set down to oust South Alabama's sixth-ranked Loic Cloes and Clement Marzol—the tournament's top seed.
After dropping a tough 6-3 decision in the first, the Bulldog duo held serve to take a 2-1 lead in the second set and never looked back, taking the next four games to force a 10-point tiebreaker to decide the match.
The breaker was back-and-forth the whole way, with no side leading by more than two points. Momentum swung in favor of the Maroon and White when it held to take a 7-6 lead. From there, Braun and Oradini held off the tough Jaguar pair to take a 3-6, 6-1, 1-0(8) victory. Since opening the season 0-3, Braun and Oradini have been on a tear—winning eight straight matches.
In the singles final between the 109th-ranked Braun and fellow MSU senior Trevor Foshey, Braun gained a quick 3-0 advantage. However, like he has done all week in Tuscaloosa, Foshey bounced back—winning six of the next seven games to take the first set, 6-4.
Braun then took another three-game lead at 4-1 in the second but staved off another Foshey rally to take the second set by a 6-3 mark and force a third frame to decide the regional singles crown.
Foshey took a 3-0 lead to start the third frame, but the Berlin, Germany, native Braun battled back, winning the final six games to take the singles title, breaking Foshey at love to earn the 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 triumph
Braun and Oradini had already clinched a spot in the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships by winning the ITA All-American Championships' consolation doubles draw earlier this month but solidified their bid with this week's doubles crown. Braun and Foshey earned automatic bids to the November tourney in Surprise, Ariz., by each reaching the singles final in Tuscaloosa this week.
Next Up For MSU …
A pair of pro tournaments await the Bulldogs later this week, when senior Nuno Borges travels to Charlottesville, Virginia, for the ATP Charlottesville Challenger. The Maia, Porto, Portugal, native will open up in the singles qualifying draw on Oct. 27. The rest of the Bulldogs will make a short trip over to Birmingham, Alabama, for the Players Choice Open—a USTA Futures tournament, that opens with singles qualifying on Oct. 26.
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
October 23, 2018 – Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Alabama Tennis Stadium)
Singles - Main Draw
Final – #109 Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Doubles - Main Draw
Final – #7 Braun/Giovanni Oradini [2] (MSU) def. #6 Loic Cloes/Clement Marzol [1] (South Alabama) 3-6, 6-1, 1-0(8)
ITA national rankings precede names, tournament seeding in brackets.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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