Monday, May 20
Orlando, Fla. (USTA National Campus)
All Day
Mississippi State
vs
NCAA Individual Championships
Giovanni Oradini and Nuno Borges captured straight-set victories in their NCAA Singles Championship first-round matches on Monday.
Photo by: Bill Kallenberg
Borges, Oradini Take Straight-Set Wins In NCAA Singles First Round
May 20, 2019 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
ORLANDO, Fla. – On a steamy Monday at the USTA National Campus, Mississippi State's Nuno Borges and Giovanni Oradini turned in straight-set wins in their first-round matches in the 2019 NCAA Singles Championship.
The top-seeded Borges opened up with a strong first-round victory, downing No. 21 Alexis Galarneau of North Carolina State 6-4, 6-2 Monday morning.
Facing the ATP top-400 Galarneau, Borges mounted to a two-break lead at 4-1 in the first set. Galarneau battled back to take the next two games, holding on a deciding point to cut Borges' lead to 4-3. Both players held serve the next two games, with Borges serving for the set. The 2019 ITA National Senior Player of the Year did just that, holding at 40-30 to claim the first set 6-4.
In the second frame, Borges surged out of the gate to go up 5-1 behind a strong service game. After Galarneau held to cut the deficit to 5-2, Borges served it out to take a tough first-round victory, claiming the second set 6-2. Borges totaled 8 aces in the match, with 5 of those coming in the second set. In the final game alone, Borges fired two aces, including one to end the match.
With the win, Borges extended his career-long winning streak to a school-record 27 matches, passing All-American Thomas Dupre's 26-match streak set in 1996-97.
"I just stayed tough throughout the match and tried not to give him too many free points," Borges said. "In the first round, it can be hard to get things going and I think he felt it, too. So, I took advantage of it in the first set and went on to play a great second set."
Borges will face Florida's 59th-ranked Andy Andrade in the second round. Andrade boasts a 27-12 overall singles mark on the year and went 19-7 in dual matches this spring for the Gators, primarily playing at the No. 2 (6-3) and No. 3 (9-3) spots. On Monday, the Brandenton, Florida, sophomore defeated Felipe Sarrasague of Elon 6-1, 7-6(2) in the first round. Match time is slated for 4 p.m. ET, with the match being shown live on the Tennis Channel.
In the afternoon match, Oradini ousted Dartmouth's 69th-ranked Charlie Broom 6-3, 6-1 to close out a 2-0 day for the Maroon and White.
Both sides held serve in the first three games before Oradini broke Broom's serve at 30-40 to go up 3-1. Broom and Oradini would continue to serve well throughout the set, with Oradini claiming the first by a 6-3 margin.
The second set began a bit differently than the first, with Oradini storming out of the set break to take a 4-0 lead, taking 16 of the first 23 points. Broom would fight back with a hold to cut the Bulldog lefty's lead to 4-1, but it was too little too late. Oradini would take the final two games, breaking Broom at 15-40 with a powerful crosscourt winner to clinch the victory.
"I've been working on my visualization before my matches and I thought I came out sharp and very focused today," Oradini said. "I knew what I was doing and knew what I wanted to do, so my game plan worked out pretty well. I did a good job of taking it point-by-point and that was the key for me. I wasn't thinking about the next game, I was just focusing on the moment."
Oradini will take on 53rd-ranked Joseph Guillin of UC-Santa Barbara in the second round at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Guillin advanced to the second round when his opponent, Gabriel Decamps of UCF, retired in the third set. Guillin is 24-11 overall and went 11-6 in dual match play for the Gauchos, including a 9-4 mark at the No. 2 position. With a win on Tuesday in the second round, Oradini will earn ITA Singles All-American honors for the second year in a row.
In doubles, which begins Tuesday, Borges will team up with Rakic to form the nation's third-seeded tandem while Oradini pairs with Niclas Braun as an at-large duo in the field of 32.
Borges and Rakic are slated to take on TCU's 15th-ranked pair of Alastair Gray and Alex Rybakov for the fourth time this spring and the second time in 10 days, with match time slated for 7 p.m. ET. Borges and Rakic reached the quarterfinals in the 2018 NCAA Doubles Championship. Braun and Oradini will meet Texas Tech's ninth-ranked tandem of Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn at 4:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs are one of just two programs with more than one doubles pair in the tourney, joining TCU.
"I was really impressed with Nuno and Giovanni's mental toughness today," head coach Matt Roberts said. "I thought Nuno served well and played some great, aggressive tennis against a very good counter-puncher. Giovanni visualized before his match, and he went out and played calm, tough tennis today. I'm very happy with our first day and we're looking forward to another great day tomorrow."
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
MSU at the 2019 NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships
May 20, 2019 – Orlando, Florida (USTA National Campus)
Singles
First Round – #1 Nuno Borges (MSU) [1] def. #21 Alexis Galarneau (NC State) 6-4, 6-2; #61 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. #69 Charlie Broom (Dartmouth) 6-3, 6-1
ORLANDO, Fla. – On a steamy Monday at the USTA National Campus, Mississippi State's Nuno Borges and Giovanni Oradini turned in straight-set wins in their first-round matches in the 2019 NCAA Singles Championship.
The top-seeded Borges opened up with a strong first-round victory, downing No. 21 Alexis Galarneau of North Carolina State 6-4, 6-2 Monday morning.
Facing the ATP top-400 Galarneau, Borges mounted to a two-break lead at 4-1 in the first set. Galarneau battled back to take the next two games, holding on a deciding point to cut Borges' lead to 4-3. Both players held serve the next two games, with Borges serving for the set. The 2019 ITA National Senior Player of the Year did just that, holding at 40-30 to claim the first set 6-4.
In the second frame, Borges surged out of the gate to go up 5-1 behind a strong service game. After Galarneau held to cut the deficit to 5-2, Borges served it out to take a tough first-round victory, claiming the second set 6-2. Borges totaled 8 aces in the match, with 5 of those coming in the second set. In the final game alone, Borges fired two aces, including one to end the match.
With the win, Borges extended his career-long winning streak to a school-record 27 matches, passing All-American Thomas Dupre's 26-match streak set in 1996-97.
"I just stayed tough throughout the match and tried not to give him too many free points," Borges said. "In the first round, it can be hard to get things going and I think he felt it, too. So, I took advantage of it in the first set and went on to play a great second set."
Borges will face Florida's 59th-ranked Andy Andrade in the second round. Andrade boasts a 27-12 overall singles mark on the year and went 19-7 in dual matches this spring for the Gators, primarily playing at the No. 2 (6-3) and No. 3 (9-3) spots. On Monday, the Brandenton, Florida, sophomore defeated Felipe Sarrasague of Elon 6-1, 7-6(2) in the first round. Match time is slated for 4 p.m. ET, with the match being shown live on the Tennis Channel.
In the afternoon match, Oradini ousted Dartmouth's 69th-ranked Charlie Broom 6-3, 6-1 to close out a 2-0 day for the Maroon and White.
Both sides held serve in the first three games before Oradini broke Broom's serve at 30-40 to go up 3-1. Broom and Oradini would continue to serve well throughout the set, with Oradini claiming the first by a 6-3 margin.
The second set began a bit differently than the first, with Oradini storming out of the set break to take a 4-0 lead, taking 16 of the first 23 points. Broom would fight back with a hold to cut the Bulldog lefty's lead to 4-1, but it was too little too late. Oradini would take the final two games, breaking Broom at 15-40 with a powerful crosscourt winner to clinch the victory.
"I've been working on my visualization before my matches and I thought I came out sharp and very focused today," Oradini said. "I knew what I was doing and knew what I wanted to do, so my game plan worked out pretty well. I did a good job of taking it point-by-point and that was the key for me. I wasn't thinking about the next game, I was just focusing on the moment."
Oradini will take on 53rd-ranked Joseph Guillin of UC-Santa Barbara in the second round at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Guillin advanced to the second round when his opponent, Gabriel Decamps of UCF, retired in the third set. Guillin is 24-11 overall and went 11-6 in dual match play for the Gauchos, including a 9-4 mark at the No. 2 position. With a win on Tuesday in the second round, Oradini will earn ITA Singles All-American honors for the second year in a row.
In doubles, which begins Tuesday, Borges will team up with Rakic to form the nation's third-seeded tandem while Oradini pairs with Niclas Braun as an at-large duo in the field of 32.
Borges and Rakic are slated to take on TCU's 15th-ranked pair of Alastair Gray and Alex Rybakov for the fourth time this spring and the second time in 10 days, with match time slated for 7 p.m. ET. Borges and Rakic reached the quarterfinals in the 2018 NCAA Doubles Championship. Braun and Oradini will meet Texas Tech's ninth-ranked tandem of Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn at 4:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs are one of just two programs with more than one doubles pair in the tourney, joining TCU.
"I was really impressed with Nuno and Giovanni's mental toughness today," head coach Matt Roberts said. "I thought Nuno served well and played some great, aggressive tennis against a very good counter-puncher. Giovanni visualized before his match, and he went out and played calm, tough tennis today. I'm very happy with our first day and we're looking forward to another great day tomorrow."
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
MSU at the 2019 NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships
May 20, 2019 – Orlando, Florida (USTA National Campus)
Singles
First Round – #1 Nuno Borges (MSU) [1] def. #21 Alexis Galarneau (NC State) 6-4, 6-2; #61 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. #69 Charlie Broom (Dartmouth) 6-3, 6-1
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