Mississippi State
Tulane
MSU Men’s Tennis Moves To 5-0 With Valiant 5-2 Win Over Green Wave
January 31, 2021 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's men's tennis team took the court against an aggressive Tulane squad Sunday afternoon for what would be a thrilling match that ended in the Bulldogs' favor 5-2.
With the victory, State (5-0) has now claimed five of the last six meetings against the Green Wave (3-2) and has put up an impressive 15-7 record in the series (since 1969).
State would drop a competitive doubles point to open the contest. On court 2, MSU's 47th ranked duo of Alberto Colas and Gregor Ramskogler fell in a 6-4 affair to TU's Akos Kotorman and Billy Suarez. On court 1, the 28th-ranked State duo of Florian Broska and Nicolas Ocana would battle hard, but was upended 6-3 by TU's Ewan Moore and Hamish Stewart. At the time of the clinch, play on court 3 was suspended as Nemanja Malesevic and Giovanni Oradini were down a break at 6-5 against Luis Erlenbusch and Fynn Keunkler.
Tulane built several early leads in singles and seemingly had the momentum in the match. But the Bulldogs locked in mentally and asserted themselves on home soil to change the flow of the match, going on to claim five of the six singles matches for the victory.
"It was an unreal way to finish the weekend," MSU assistant coach Jake Jacoby said. "Today, we were down another doubles point, we fought through some adversity against very tough opponents on every court in singles. We battled through it, and really showed our toughness on every court. The result came out with us on top, and we just let the results take care of themselves today. We definitely got better as the match went on."
State's Ramskogler made quick work of Tulane's Jeremy Schifris, downing the Green Wave 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 to tie the score at 1-1. Down a break early on court 1, the 36th-ranked MSU senior veteran Oradini would fight for every point to outlast Tulane's 40th-ranked Stewart for a tough 7-5, 6-2 victory in a battle of top 40 players. On court 3, the State true freshman Malesevic would find himself struggling early on against TU's Erlenbusch, dropping the first set 6-1 before rolling back to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory for a 3-1 State lead.
Court 4 would prove to be the match clincher but not without a strong comeback effort put forth by State's Colas. There, Tulane's Suarez took a commanding 5-1 lead in the first set, but Colas manufactured six straight games of his own to take the set 7-5. Colas would go on to claim the second set by the same score for a 7-5, 7-5 triumph to hand the Bulldogs the team win. With the victory, he extended his singles win streak to seven matches.
MSU's 87th-ranked Broska would then finish his three-set affair against Tulane's 53rd-ranked Moore. The Bulldog would prove too strong for the Green Wave star as he claimed the upset 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, extending his current win streak to five matches.
Wrapping up action would be court 5. There, Bulldog rookie Carles Hernandez was in a fierce match against Tulane's Kuenkler, who ultimately came out on top in a third set tiebreaker 5-7, 6-4, 1-0(3) for TU's other point of the afternoon.
Next upon on the slate, the Bulldogs will welcome No. 3 TCU to Starkville next Friday, February 5. Following that affair, Memphis and Jackson State arrive in town to take on the Bulldogs Sunday, February 7.
Mississippi State 5, Tulane 2
January 31, 2021
Starkville, Miss. - Rula Tennis Pavilion
Doubles
1. Ewan Moore/Hamish Stewart (TU) def. #28 Florian Broska/Nicolas Ocana (MSU 6-3
2. Akos Kotorman/Billy Suarez (TU) def. #47 Alberto Colas/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 6-4
3. Luis Erlenbusch/Fynn Keunkler (TU) vs. Nemanja Malesevic/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 6-5 (susp.)
Order of finish: 2,1,3
Singles
1. #36 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. #40 Hamish Stewart (TU) 7-5, 6-2
2. #87 Florian Broska (MSU) def. #53 Ewan Moore (TU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
3. Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. Luis Erlenbusch (TU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
4. Alberto Colas (MSU) def. Billy Suarez (TU) 7-5, 7-5
5. Fynn Kuenkler (TU) def. Carles Hernandez (MSU) 5-7, 6-4, 1-0(3)
6. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Jeremy Schifris (TU) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 6,1,3,4,2,5
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Players Mentioned
