Sunday, October 7
Tulsa, Okla.
All Day
Mississippi State
vs
ITA All-American Championships
Nuno Borges reached the final of the 2018 ITA All-American Championships with an exciting three-set victory on Sunday.
Photo by: Blake Williams/MSU Athletics
Borges To Vie For ITA All-American Singles Title; All-Bulldog Doubles Consolation Final Set As Well
October 07, 2018 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
TULSA, Okla. – With his back against the wall, including facing a couple of match points, Mississippi State's second-ranked Nuno Borges needed resilience Sunday if he wanted to advance to the singles final of the 2018 ITA All-American Championships at Tulsa's Case Tennis Center.
The top-seeded Borges fought off Illinois' 50th-ranked Alex Brown after dropping the first set in tiebreak fashion, 7-6(5). The first set breaker would be the first of two tiebreakers in the tightly-contested affair. In the first set, Borges battled back from down a break at 4-2 to knot it up at 4-all. Both players did an excellent job of holding serve the rest of the frame, leading to the breaker.
There, Brown opened on a 4-2 run before Borges took a 5-4 lead on a Brown double fault. Brown then held and delivered a service ace to take a 6-5 lead, followed by Borges stroking a forehand long to put the Illinois sophomore up a set.
The two-time SEC Player of the Year bounced back in the second, matching Brown serve-for-serve until Brown led 5-4. Brown then earned a pair of match points on the MSU senior's ensuing serve, but Borges dug deep to stay in the match. After holding that tough game, Borges got the break he needed to serve for the set up 6-5 when Brown double-faulted at 15-40. The Bulldog senior then held solidly to force a third set.
The third set was not much different than the first two, with both sides doing a great job of holding serve, resulting in another tiebreaker to decide who would advance to Monday's championship match.
Brown quickly gained a 4-1 lead, but Borges once again dug deep, battling back to take the next six points and move on to the singles final round with an epic 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(4) comeback triumph.
Borges will make his second appearance in the final of a major collegiate championship Monday morning. There, he will face Ohio State's 17th-ranked JJ Wolf, who notched a straight-set win over Georgia's Emil Reinberg in the other semifinal match Sunday. Match time between Borges and Wolf is set for 9 a.m. CT Monday.
The doubles consolation draw saw both of MSU's tandems—top-ranked Borges and Strahinja Rakic and seventh-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini—reach the final round Sunday, automatically qualifying each of them for the 2018 ITA National Fall Championships in Surprise, Arizona, in November, where Borges will also defend his singles title from a year ago.
Braun and Oradini moved on rather easily Sunday afternoon, taking a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over San Diego's 10th-ranked Nico Borter and Guilherme Osorio.
Borges and Rakic, however, had to battle through another 10-point match tiebreaker to reach the final. After taking a 6-4 decision in the first set, Texas Tech's Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn—ranked 42nd nationally—evened things up by claiming the second, 6-4, setting up an exciting finish.
The Red Raider pair built an early 4-2 lead in the super breaker, but Borges and Rakic managed to climb back and take a 6-5 lead before holding off the tough TTU duo for a 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(8) victory.
With both Bulldog duos earning the automatic bid to the ITA National Fall Championships, the team has elected to play the doubles consolation final match later this week in Starkville.
State has gone 7-0 the last two days in Tulsa – Borges with three wins in the main draw of singles and each doubles team going 2-0 in consolation action.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
MSU at the 2018 ITA All-American Championships
October 7, 2018 – Tulsa, Oklahoma (Michael D. Case Tennis Center - Indoors)
Singles Main Draw
Semifinals – #2 Nuno Borges [1] (MSU) def. #50 Alex Brown (Illinois) 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(4)
Doubles Consolation Draw
Semifinals – #1 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic [1] (MSU) def. #42 Bjorn Thomson/Parker Wynn 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(8); #7 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini [5] (MSU) def. #10 Nico Borter/Guilherme Osorio (San Diego) 6-3, 6-2
ITA National rankings precede player names; tournament seeding in brackets.
TULSA, Okla. – With his back against the wall, including facing a couple of match points, Mississippi State's second-ranked Nuno Borges needed resilience Sunday if he wanted to advance to the singles final of the 2018 ITA All-American Championships at Tulsa's Case Tennis Center.
The top-seeded Borges fought off Illinois' 50th-ranked Alex Brown after dropping the first set in tiebreak fashion, 7-6(5). The first set breaker would be the first of two tiebreakers in the tightly-contested affair. In the first set, Borges battled back from down a break at 4-2 to knot it up at 4-all. Both players did an excellent job of holding serve the rest of the frame, leading to the breaker.
There, Brown opened on a 4-2 run before Borges took a 5-4 lead on a Brown double fault. Brown then held and delivered a service ace to take a 6-5 lead, followed by Borges stroking a forehand long to put the Illinois sophomore up a set.
The two-time SEC Player of the Year bounced back in the second, matching Brown serve-for-serve until Brown led 5-4. Brown then earned a pair of match points on the MSU senior's ensuing serve, but Borges dug deep to stay in the match. After holding that tough game, Borges got the break he needed to serve for the set up 6-5 when Brown double-faulted at 15-40. The Bulldog senior then held solidly to force a third set.
The third set was not much different than the first two, with both sides doing a great job of holding serve, resulting in another tiebreaker to decide who would advance to Monday's championship match.
Brown quickly gained a 4-1 lead, but Borges once again dug deep, battling back to take the next six points and move on to the singles final round with an epic 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(4) comeback triumph.
Borges will make his second appearance in the final of a major collegiate championship Monday morning. There, he will face Ohio State's 17th-ranked JJ Wolf, who notched a straight-set win over Georgia's Emil Reinberg in the other semifinal match Sunday. Match time between Borges and Wolf is set for 9 a.m. CT Monday.
The doubles consolation draw saw both of MSU's tandems—top-ranked Borges and Strahinja Rakic and seventh-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini—reach the final round Sunday, automatically qualifying each of them for the 2018 ITA National Fall Championships in Surprise, Arizona, in November, where Borges will also defend his singles title from a year ago.
Braun and Oradini moved on rather easily Sunday afternoon, taking a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over San Diego's 10th-ranked Nico Borter and Guilherme Osorio.
Borges and Rakic, however, had to battle through another 10-point match tiebreaker to reach the final. After taking a 6-4 decision in the first set, Texas Tech's Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn—ranked 42nd nationally—evened things up by claiming the second, 6-4, setting up an exciting finish.
The Red Raider pair built an early 4-2 lead in the super breaker, but Borges and Rakic managed to climb back and take a 6-5 lead before holding off the tough TTU duo for a 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(8) victory.
With both Bulldog duos earning the automatic bid to the ITA National Fall Championships, the team has elected to play the doubles consolation final match later this week in Starkville.
State has gone 7-0 the last two days in Tulsa – Borges with three wins in the main draw of singles and each doubles team going 2-0 in consolation action.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
MSU at the 2018 ITA All-American Championships
October 7, 2018 – Tulsa, Oklahoma (Michael D. Case Tennis Center - Indoors)
Singles Main Draw
Semifinals – #2 Nuno Borges [1] (MSU) def. #50 Alex Brown (Illinois) 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(4)
Doubles Consolation Draw
Semifinals – #1 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic [1] (MSU) def. #42 Bjorn Thomson/Parker Wynn 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(8); #7 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini [5] (MSU) def. #10 Nico Borter/Guilherme Osorio (San Diego) 6-3, 6-2
ITA National rankings precede player names; tournament seeding in brackets.
Players Mentioned
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