Saturday, May 26
Winston-Salem, N.C.
All Day
Mississippi State
vs
NCAA Individual Championships
MSU's Nuno Borges advanced to his second straight NCAA singles semifinal with a straight-set win on Saturday.
Photo by: John R. Cade
State’s Borges Advances To Second Straight NCAA Singles Semifinal
May 26, 2018 | Men's Tennis
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Entering the 2018 season, only one Mississippi State men's tennis player had ever reached the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship.
Now, that one player has achieved the feat twice in as many seasons, as second-ranked and third-seeded junior Nuno Borges punched his ticket for his return to the NCAA semifinals on Saturday, notching a tight 7-6(4), 6-4 decision over Tennessee's 16th-ranked Timo Stodder, who was seeded 9-16.
Borges stormed out of the gate against Stodder, going up 4-1 early in the first set. Stodder responded by breaking back and then knotting up the score at 4-all. Borges took 5-4 and 6-5 leads, both on serve, but Stodder held on a deciding point to force a tiebreaker. In the breaker, Stodder took a 4-2 lead, but Borges won the final five points—the final point coming when Stodder netted a return to give the Bulldog junior a 7-4 victory in the tiebreaker to go up a set.
The second set was very back-and-forth to start, but Borges broke the Volunteer at 2-all to go up a break at 3-2 and would never relinquish that advantage, as the two-time All-American and SEC Player of the Year held his serve convincingly three times.
"I thought I served better than he did and I let go of a few service games and that got him back in the match," Borges said. "I was up, 2-0, in the tiebreaker and gave him a few points and then I was 4-2 down. I made a really good push and won a couple really tough points. I thought I executed really well to get the tiebreaker. In the second set, I just kept pushing on my service games. I had a couple free points on the service game and I took advantage of it."
In Sunday's semifinal, which will not start before 1:30 p.m. ET, Borges will take on seventh-ranked (and seventh-seeded) Borna Gojo of host Wake Forest. Gojo advanced to the semis by pulling out a tight 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 decision against second-seeded and third-ranked William Blumberg of North Carolina on Saturday. The two players have never met.
"Nuno is displaying a lot of grit and determination to succeed right now," head coach Matt Roberts said. "He's really in control of his positive self-talk and continues to tell himself that he's tough. If you continue to tell yourself that, you will believe it. When he does that, good things will happen. He's continuing to build his self-confidence. He did a great job pushing through the first set tiebreaker and through a lot of tough points today."
In NCAA quarterfinal doubles action later Saturday, the top-ranked duo of Borges and Strahinja Rakic was forced indoors due to inclement weather in the Winston-Salem area for its match against UCLA's 29th-ranked Martin Redlicki and Evan Zhu. The Bulldog tandem opened on a 4-2 run, but the Bruins marched back to cut State's lead to 5-4, after which Redlicki netted a volley at 40-15 to give MSU an early one-set lead.
Roles reversed in the second set, with UCLA going up a service break at 4-2. Both sides held serve the remainder of the set, concluding with the Bruins taking a 6-3 decision in the set to force a 10-point match tiebreaker to decide who would advance to Sunday's semifinals.
In the tiebreaker, UCLA was up by as much as 6-2 and eventually took an 8-3 lead with State serving. The Bulldogs held on both points, but the Bruins got a point for a 9-5 count. Borges and Rakic got a mini-break back to make it 9-6 and then held to cut the lead to 9-7, but their comeback attempt ran just short as UCLA claimed the next point to complete a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(7) win that ended Borges and Rakic's tremendous run in the NCAA Championship – the first Bulldog duo in 18 years to make the quarterfinals.
"Nuno and Strahinja had a great run, we just didn't serve well enough in the tiebreaker and take advantage of our second serve returns," Roberts said. "UCLA did a great job of getting back into the match. I'm really proud of how they competed all year—they improved a lot as the year progressed and really led us on the doubles courts down the stretch."
Borges and Rakic's run was highlighted by the pair climbing from unranked in March to the No. 1 spot entering the NCAA Championship in May.
Tickets
Tickets for the 2018 NCAA Tennis Championships can be purchased through the Wake Forest ticket office.
Live Video/Stats
All matches at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex will feature live scoring and live video.
MSU In The 2018 NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships
May 26, 2018 – Winston-Salem, N.C. (Wake Forest Tennis Complex)
Singles
Quarterfinals–#2 Nuno Borges [3] (MSU) def. #16 Timo Stodder [9-16] (Tennessee) 7-6(4), 6-4.
Doubles
Quarterfinals– #29 Martin Redlicki/Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. #1 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic [1] (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(7).
ITA National rankings precede player names; tournament seeding in brackets
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Now, that one player has achieved the feat twice in as many seasons, as second-ranked and third-seeded junior Nuno Borges punched his ticket for his return to the NCAA semifinals on Saturday, notching a tight 7-6(4), 6-4 decision over Tennessee's 16th-ranked Timo Stodder, who was seeded 9-16.
Borges stormed out of the gate against Stodder, going up 4-1 early in the first set. Stodder responded by breaking back and then knotting up the score at 4-all. Borges took 5-4 and 6-5 leads, both on serve, but Stodder held on a deciding point to force a tiebreaker. In the breaker, Stodder took a 4-2 lead, but Borges won the final five points—the final point coming when Stodder netted a return to give the Bulldog junior a 7-4 victory in the tiebreaker to go up a set.
The second set was very back-and-forth to start, but Borges broke the Volunteer at 2-all to go up a break at 3-2 and would never relinquish that advantage, as the two-time All-American and SEC Player of the Year held his serve convincingly three times.
"I thought I served better than he did and I let go of a few service games and that got him back in the match," Borges said. "I was up, 2-0, in the tiebreaker and gave him a few points and then I was 4-2 down. I made a really good push and won a couple really tough points. I thought I executed really well to get the tiebreaker. In the second set, I just kept pushing on my service games. I had a couple free points on the service game and I took advantage of it."
In Sunday's semifinal, which will not start before 1:30 p.m. ET, Borges will take on seventh-ranked (and seventh-seeded) Borna Gojo of host Wake Forest. Gojo advanced to the semis by pulling out a tight 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 decision against second-seeded and third-ranked William Blumberg of North Carolina on Saturday. The two players have never met.
"Nuno is displaying a lot of grit and determination to succeed right now," head coach Matt Roberts said. "He's really in control of his positive self-talk and continues to tell himself that he's tough. If you continue to tell yourself that, you will believe it. When he does that, good things will happen. He's continuing to build his self-confidence. He did a great job pushing through the first set tiebreaker and through a lot of tough points today."
In NCAA quarterfinal doubles action later Saturday, the top-ranked duo of Borges and Strahinja Rakic was forced indoors due to inclement weather in the Winston-Salem area for its match against UCLA's 29th-ranked Martin Redlicki and Evan Zhu. The Bulldog tandem opened on a 4-2 run, but the Bruins marched back to cut State's lead to 5-4, after which Redlicki netted a volley at 40-15 to give MSU an early one-set lead.
Roles reversed in the second set, with UCLA going up a service break at 4-2. Both sides held serve the remainder of the set, concluding with the Bruins taking a 6-3 decision in the set to force a 10-point match tiebreaker to decide who would advance to Sunday's semifinals.
In the tiebreaker, UCLA was up by as much as 6-2 and eventually took an 8-3 lead with State serving. The Bulldogs held on both points, but the Bruins got a point for a 9-5 count. Borges and Rakic got a mini-break back to make it 9-6 and then held to cut the lead to 9-7, but their comeback attempt ran just short as UCLA claimed the next point to complete a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(7) win that ended Borges and Rakic's tremendous run in the NCAA Championship – the first Bulldog duo in 18 years to make the quarterfinals.
"Nuno and Strahinja had a great run, we just didn't serve well enough in the tiebreaker and take advantage of our second serve returns," Roberts said. "UCLA did a great job of getting back into the match. I'm really proud of how they competed all year—they improved a lot as the year progressed and really led us on the doubles courts down the stretch."
Borges and Rakic's run was highlighted by the pair climbing from unranked in March to the No. 1 spot entering the NCAA Championship in May.
Tickets
Tickets for the 2018 NCAA Tennis Championships can be purchased through the Wake Forest ticket office.
Live Video/Stats
All matches at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex will feature live scoring and live video.
MSU In The 2018 NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships
May 26, 2018 – Winston-Salem, N.C. (Wake Forest Tennis Complex)
Singles
Quarterfinals–#2 Nuno Borges [3] (MSU) def. #16 Timo Stodder [9-16] (Tennessee) 7-6(4), 6-4.
Doubles
Quarterfinals– #29 Martin Redlicki/Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. #1 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic [1] (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(7).
ITA National rankings precede player names; tournament seeding in brackets
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Men's Tennis | Matt Roberts Michigan State Presser
Saturday, May 03
Men's Tennis | Matt Roberts & Niccolo Baroni
Friday, May 02
Men's Tennis | Matt Roberts - NCAA Selection Show
Monday, April 28
Mississippi State Men's Tennis vs. Arkansas Recap - 04/07/21
Thursday, April 08