Mississippi State
LSU Invite
Three Bulldogs, Two Doubles Teams Advance On Day One At LSU Invite
October 02, 2020 | Men's Tennis
Tortora followed up his first round win with what might be the best win of his young collegiate career, ousting Texas A&M’s No. 1 seed Valentin Vacherot 7-6(7), 6-4
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Mississippi State men's tennis team notched nine wins Friday on the opening day of the LSU Invitational with Bulldogs Davide Tortora, Gregor Ramskogler and Nemanja Malesevic highlighting action by advancing to the semifinals of their respective singles draws.
Doubles action actually opened tournament play Friday morning with two MSU tandems moving into Saturday's quarterfinals. Bulldogs Florian Broska and Nicolas Ocana picked up where they left off last season as the No. 2 seed made quick work of LSU's Tomas Descarrega and Tom Pisane 8-4. The third-seeded State duo of Alberto Colas and Ramskogler dropped a hard-fought 8-6 affair to the Texas A&M duo of Guido Marson and Pierce Rollins. Concluding doubles play would be Bulldogs Malesevic and Stedman Strickland who battled out a tight tiebreak to defeat Arkansas' Hunter Harrison and Maxim Verboven 9-8(6).
It was in the Tiger Draw where State did most of its singles damage Friday. There, the freshman Tortora and sophomore Ramskogler both advanced to the semifinals with upsets of seeded players. Tortora opened the day with a tough 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-2 win over Nick Watson of host LSU. Tortora followed that up with what might be the best win of his young collegiate career, ousting Texas A&M's No. 1 seed Valentin Vacherot 7-6(7), 6-4. Vacherot was the No. 3 ranked singles player in the nation in March when spring competition was cut short nationwide. Ramskogler opened action Friday by cruising past Arkansas' Avery Zavala 6-1, 6-4 and then upended third-seeded Aggie Barnaby Smith 6-1, 7-6(5) to move into the semis.
In the Purple Draw, the State rookie Malesevic led the way. After a first-round bye, the No. 3 seed claimed his first singles victory in the Maroon and White as he defeated Arkansas' Harrison 6-1, 6-3. Also in the Purple Draw, MSU's Alberto Colas took down Arkansas' Melvin Manuel 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 to open the day before falling to Texas A&M's top-seeded Hady Habib - a top 30 player last spring - in a tough three-set affair. MSU's Broska would fall short in his only singles match Friday, as the No. 2 seed dropped a tight 6-4, 6-4 affair to A&M's Rollins.
The Gold Draw rounded out action. There, State's Ocana down LSU's Ben Koch 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 before falling to top-seeded Aggie Carlos Aguilar – ranked top 35 last spring - 6-2, 6-1. MSU's Strickland opened play in a 6-2, 6-2 setback to Razorback Maxim Verboven and then dropped a well-contested 6-3, 7-5 decision to Arkansas' Josh Bortnick in consolation action.
Day 2 action will begin Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with two rounds of doubles and one round of singles on the agenda for the day.
Live stats are available all weekend, as well as live video (for selected matches).
MSU at the LSU Invitational - October 2, 2020
Baton Rouge, La. – LSU Tennis Complex
DOUBLES
First Round – Nemanja Malesevic/Stedman Strickland (MSU) def. Hunter Harrison/Maxim Verboven (Arkansas) 9-8(6); Guido Marson/Pierce Rollins (Texas A&M) def. Alberto Colas/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) [3] 8-6; Florian Broska/Nicolas Ocana (MSU) [2] def. Tomas Descarrega/Tom Pisane (LSU) 8-4.
SINGLES
Gold Draw
First Round – Nicolas Ocana (MSU) def. Ben Koch (LSU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; Maxim Verboven (Arkansas) def. Stedman Strickland (MSU) 6-2, 6-2.
Quarterfinals – Carlos Aguiilar (Texas A&M) [1] def. Ocana (MSU) 6-2, 6-1.
Consolation – Josh Bortnick (Arkansas) def. Strickland (MSU) 6-3, 7-5.
Purple Draw
First Round – Alberto Colas (MSU) def. Melvin Manuel (Arkansas) 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3.
Quarterfinals – Hady Habib (Texas A&M) [1] def. Colas (MSU) 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-2; Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) [3] def. Hunter Harrison (Arkansas) 6-1, 6-3; Pierce Rollins (Texas A&M) def. Florian Broska (MSU) [2] 6-4, 6-4.
Tiger Draw
First Round – Davide Tortora (MSU) def. Nick Watson (LSU) 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-2; Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Avery Zavala (Arkansas) 6-1, 6-4.
Quarterfinals – Tortora (MSU) def. Valentin Vacherot (Texas A&M) [1] 7-6(7), 6-4; Ramskogler (MSU) def. Barnaby Smith (Texas A&M) [3] 6-1, 7-6(5).
Tournament seedings are in brackets
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