Thursday, March 14
Starkville
5:00 PM
Mississippi State
4
vs
1
Alabama
Niclas Braun won his third straight match-clincher on Thursday, propelling No. 10 MSU past No. 18 Alabama 4-1.
Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics
No. 10 Bulldogs Top No. 18 Alabama, 4-1, On Thursday
March 14, 2019 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
STARKVILLE – For the second straight match, a weather delay was not enough to keep the No. 10 Mississippi State men's tennis team out of the win column, as the Bulldogs captured a 4-1 victory against No. 18 Alabama on Thursday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
MSU (12-3, 4-1 SEC) ousted the Crimson Tide (12-5, 2-3) to extend its home winning streak to 22 matches, with 12 of those victories coming in conference play. The match was originally slated to start at 1 p.m., but severe weather in the Starkville area delayed action until 5:12 p.m.
"I thought the guys handled today's weather situation very well," head coach Matt Roberts said. "They did a great job of coming out after some delays and played sharp in doubles in front of an awesome crowd, which they enjoyed playing in front of. Then, we got off to a strong start in singles, taking four first sets and making that next push. Today was one of those days where we had to be mentally tough and trust ourselves in these windy conditions, and I thought the guys did a great job with that today."
State got out to roaring starts on courts 2 and 3 in doubles, going up a break on each. On court 2, MSU's third-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini staved off Alabama's Alexey Nesterov and Zhe Zhou after going up 5-1 to take a 6-3 triumph.
On court 1, the seventh-ranked Bulldog tandem of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic posted a similar outcome, downing 17th-ranked Patrick Kaukovalta and Mazen Osama of Alabama 6-3 to clinch the doubles point. In dual match doubles wins, Borges is now tied with Per Nilsson (1991-94) and Romain Ambert (2001-04) for seventh all-time (48).
At the point-clincher, the Bulldogs' Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler were up 5-3 against UA's Edson Ortiz and Riccardo Roberto on court 3. MSU has now won seven straight doubles points and has earned a 1-0 lead in 25 of its last 26 outings.
The Bulldogs carried that momentum into singles, taking four first sets. State's third-ranked Borges was the first to finish, cruising past Alabama's 36th-ranked Osama 6-2, 6-2 on court 1 to put MSU up 2-0. Borges posted his 14th win in a row and improved to 20-2 overall this season, marking the fourth straight year he has eclipsed 20 singles wins, while also improving to 13-0 in dual matches.
By winning both doubles and singles on Thursday, Borges is now tied for eighth in program history in career wins, tying Per Nilsson (1991-94) now with164 total victories. The Maia, Porto, Portugal, native is also one win shy of tying the school record for career dual match singles wins, with 69 going into Saturday's match at Auburn.
Alabama cut MSU's lead to 2-1 when Jeremy Gschwendtner downed the Bulldogs' Florian Broska 6-0, 6-3 on court 6 for the Tide's lone point of the contest.
On court 2, MSU's 102nd-ranked Oradini ousted Ortiz in straight-set fashion, winning a no-ad break point to take the match 6-4, 6-4 and put the Maroon and White up 3-1.
Braun then came through again for the Bulldogs on court 4 with his third match-clinching victory in a row, upending UA's Roberto in a tight 6-4, 7-5 decision. Up 5-4 and serving for the match, Roberto broke serve to make it 5-all before Braun broke back the next game to serve for the match again up 6-5, where he served it out to seal the win for MSU.
At the time of Braun's clincher, MSU's Foshey led Zhou 3-2 in the third set on court 5, while Rakic was down a set and 2-1 in a second-set tiebreaker against UA's Kaukovalta on court 3.
The Bulldogs have now won nine straight meetings against Alabama and now own a 35-24 lead in the series since 1969.
Next Up For MSU …
The Bulldogs will return to the road for their next challenge, traveling to Auburn to face the Tigers at Noon CT on Saturday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. After taking on Auburn, State will return home to Pitts to square off against No. 22 Tennessee (3/22) and No. 26 Georgia (3/24) in another pair of marquee SEC matches. Admission is free to all home MSU tennis matches during the regular season.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 10 Mississippi State 4, No. 18 Alabama 1
March 14, 2019
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
1. #7 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. #17 Patrick Kaukovalta/Mazen Osama (UA) 6-3
2. #3 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Alexey Nesterov/Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-3
3. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) vs. Edson Ortiz/Riccardo Roberto (UA) 5-3 (susp.)
Order of finish: 2,1
Singles
1. #3 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #36 Mazen Osama (UA) 6-2, 6-2
2. #102 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Edson Ortiz (UA) 6-4, 6-4
3. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) vs. Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) 4-6, 6-6 (1-2) (susp.)
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Riccardo Roberto (UA) 6-4, 7-5
5. Trevor Foshey (MSU) vs. Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-3, 1-6, 3-2 (susp.)
6. Jeremy Gschwendtner (UA) def. Florian Broska (MSU) 6-0, 6-3
Order of finish: 1,6,2,4
STARKVILLE – For the second straight match, a weather delay was not enough to keep the No. 10 Mississippi State men's tennis team out of the win column, as the Bulldogs captured a 4-1 victory against No. 18 Alabama on Thursday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
MSU (12-3, 4-1 SEC) ousted the Crimson Tide (12-5, 2-3) to extend its home winning streak to 22 matches, with 12 of those victories coming in conference play. The match was originally slated to start at 1 p.m., but severe weather in the Starkville area delayed action until 5:12 p.m.
"I thought the guys handled today's weather situation very well," head coach Matt Roberts said. "They did a great job of coming out after some delays and played sharp in doubles in front of an awesome crowd, which they enjoyed playing in front of. Then, we got off to a strong start in singles, taking four first sets and making that next push. Today was one of those days where we had to be mentally tough and trust ourselves in these windy conditions, and I thought the guys did a great job with that today."
State got out to roaring starts on courts 2 and 3 in doubles, going up a break on each. On court 2, MSU's third-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini staved off Alabama's Alexey Nesterov and Zhe Zhou after going up 5-1 to take a 6-3 triumph.
On court 1, the seventh-ranked Bulldog tandem of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic posted a similar outcome, downing 17th-ranked Patrick Kaukovalta and Mazen Osama of Alabama 6-3 to clinch the doubles point. In dual match doubles wins, Borges is now tied with Per Nilsson (1991-94) and Romain Ambert (2001-04) for seventh all-time (48).
At the point-clincher, the Bulldogs' Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler were up 5-3 against UA's Edson Ortiz and Riccardo Roberto on court 3. MSU has now won seven straight doubles points and has earned a 1-0 lead in 25 of its last 26 outings.
The Bulldogs carried that momentum into singles, taking four first sets. State's third-ranked Borges was the first to finish, cruising past Alabama's 36th-ranked Osama 6-2, 6-2 on court 1 to put MSU up 2-0. Borges posted his 14th win in a row and improved to 20-2 overall this season, marking the fourth straight year he has eclipsed 20 singles wins, while also improving to 13-0 in dual matches.
By winning both doubles and singles on Thursday, Borges is now tied for eighth in program history in career wins, tying Per Nilsson (1991-94) now with164 total victories. The Maia, Porto, Portugal, native is also one win shy of tying the school record for career dual match singles wins, with 69 going into Saturday's match at Auburn.
Alabama cut MSU's lead to 2-1 when Jeremy Gschwendtner downed the Bulldogs' Florian Broska 6-0, 6-3 on court 6 for the Tide's lone point of the contest.
On court 2, MSU's 102nd-ranked Oradini ousted Ortiz in straight-set fashion, winning a no-ad break point to take the match 6-4, 6-4 and put the Maroon and White up 3-1.
Braun then came through again for the Bulldogs on court 4 with his third match-clinching victory in a row, upending UA's Roberto in a tight 6-4, 7-5 decision. Up 5-4 and serving for the match, Roberto broke serve to make it 5-all before Braun broke back the next game to serve for the match again up 6-5, where he served it out to seal the win for MSU.
At the time of Braun's clincher, MSU's Foshey led Zhou 3-2 in the third set on court 5, while Rakic was down a set and 2-1 in a second-set tiebreaker against UA's Kaukovalta on court 3.
The Bulldogs have now won nine straight meetings against Alabama and now own a 35-24 lead in the series since 1969.
Next Up For MSU …
The Bulldogs will return to the road for their next challenge, traveling to Auburn to face the Tigers at Noon CT on Saturday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. After taking on Auburn, State will return home to Pitts to square off against No. 22 Tennessee (3/22) and No. 26 Georgia (3/24) in another pair of marquee SEC matches. Admission is free to all home MSU tennis matches during the regular season.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 10 Mississippi State 4, No. 18 Alabama 1
March 14, 2019
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
1. #7 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. #17 Patrick Kaukovalta/Mazen Osama (UA) 6-3
2. #3 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Alexey Nesterov/Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-3
3. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) vs. Edson Ortiz/Riccardo Roberto (UA) 5-3 (susp.)
Order of finish: 2,1
Singles
1. #3 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #36 Mazen Osama (UA) 6-2, 6-2
2. #102 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Edson Ortiz (UA) 6-4, 6-4
3. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) vs. Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) 4-6, 6-6 (1-2) (susp.)
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Riccardo Roberto (UA) 6-4, 7-5
5. Trevor Foshey (MSU) vs. Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-3, 1-6, 3-2 (susp.)
6. Jeremy Gschwendtner (UA) def. Florian Broska (MSU) 6-0, 6-3
Order of finish: 1,6,2,4
Players Mentioned
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