Mississippi State
Tennessee
No. 22 Mississippi State Men’s Tennis Drops SEC Opener At No. 3 Tennessee
February 26, 2021 | Men's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tn. – The 22nd-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team fell 6-1 to No. 3 Tennessee in an afternoon affair Friday at UT's Goodfriend Tennis Center.
With the setback, State fell to 9-2, 0-1 in SEC action while Tennessee improved to 12-1, 2-0. Tennessee now holds a 36-22 all-time record against the Bulldogs (since 1971) and has taken the last two meetings between the teams, both in Knoxville.
Starting the afternoon off, the Bulldogs would put up a tough battle in doubles before dropping a close point to start the match. On court 1, MSU's pair of Alberto Colas and Giovanni Oradini fell to UT's Pat Harper and Adam Walton 6-2. The Bulldogs would then tie things up on court 2, where Florian Broska and Gregor Ramskogler took down Vols Johannus Monday and Martim Prata 6-3. Wrapping up doubles play would be court 3, where the MSU duo of Nemanja Malesevic and Nicolas Ocana dropped their affair to Giles Hussey and Mark Wallner, also be a 6-3 margin.
In singles play, the Volunteers came out strong and claimed the first set on four of the six courts to keep their momentum from doubles.
Court 5 would finish first with UT's Wiedenmann downing MSU true freshman Carles Hernandez 6-4, 6-2. Following would be the No. 4 spot where the Volunteers' Hussey bested State's Colas 7-5, 6-3, breaking Colas' 11-match win streak. Prata would then clinch the match for Tennessee as he held off the MSU rookie Malesevic 6-0, 3-6, 6-2.
All remaining matches were then played out.
UT's Monday upended State's 87th-ranked Broska 7-6(4), 7-6(4) on court 2, the first setback of the season for the MSU veteran in 10 outings. At the top position in the lineup, State's 36th-ranked Oradini broke up UT's shutout attempt as the Bulldog collected a straight-set upset victory over the 24th-ranked Walton 7-6(4), 6-3. Court 6 would wrap up play or the afternoon with 124th-ranked Volunteer Harper outlasting MSU's Ramskogler in a third-set tiebreaker 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).
Next upon on the slate, the Bulldogs will close out this weekend's SEC road trip in a date with No. 12 Georgia Sunday in Athens, Georgia, at UGA's Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Match time is slated for 12 p.m. CT. Live video and stats will be available for the match via Georgia.
No. 3 Tennessee 6, No. 22 Mississippi State 1
February 26, 2021
Knoxville, Tenn. – Goodfriend Tennis Center
Doubles
1. Pat Harper/Adam Walton (UT) def. Alberto Colas/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 6-2
2. Florian Broska/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Johannus Monday/Martim Prata (UT) 6-3
3. Giles Hussey/Mark Wallner (UT) def. Nemanja Malesevic/Nicolas Ocana (MSU) 6-3
Order of finish: 1,2,3
Singles
1. #36 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. #24 Adam Walton (UT) 7-6(4), 6-3
2. Johannus Monday (UT) def. #87 Florian Broska (MSU) 7-6(4), 7-6(4)
3. Martim Prata (UT) def. Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
4. Giles Hussey (UT) def. Alberto Colas (MSU) 7-5, 6-3
5. Luca Wiednmann (UT) def. Carles Hernandez (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
6. #124 Pat Harper (UT) def. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3)
Order of finish: 5,4,3,2,1,6
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Players Mentioned
