Mississippi State
Alabama
No. 15 Bulldogs Drop 5-2 Road Decision To No. 35 Alabama Friday Night
April 02, 2021 | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In a contest featured with a very tight doubles point and four three-set affairs in singles, the 15th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team fell 5-2 to No. 35 Alabama in a nighttime road affair at the Alabama Tennis Stadium Friday.
With the setback, State fell to 12-7, 2-6 in the SEC, on the season while Alabama improved to 12-8, 3-5 in SEC play. The Tide victory broke a 10-match Bulldog winning streak in the series between the teams.
The Bulldogs would drop an intense double point early on to start things off. Court 2 would finish first, where the Alabama duo of Gabriel Diaz Freire and Zhe Zhou held off State's duo of Giovanni Oradini and Stedman Strickland 7-5. Evening the doubles score for the Bulldogs would be court 1, where the No. 52 nationally-ranked MSU tandem of Florian Broska and Gregor Ramskogler upset UA's No. 25 duo of Patrick Kaukovalta and Riccardo Roberto, also by a 7-5 margin. Clinching the match for the Crimson Tide would be court 3, where Alexey Nesterov and Edson Ortiz slipped past the Bulldog duo of Nemanja Malesevic and Davide Tortora in a nailbiting 7-6(5) decision.
Expecting nothing less than a big fight under the lights, the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide would split the opening singles sets at three apiece. UA would end up taking three of the four first matches complete to claim the match, but State would not go down quietly.
Court 2 would conclude first where the Crimson Tide's 113th-ranked Kaukovalta upended the 45th-ranked Bulldog Broska 6-3, 6-2. Finishing soon after was court 6, where UA's Jeremy Gschwendtner downed MSU's 49th-ranked Tortora 6-2, 6-1 to extend the Crimson Tide lead to 3-0.
Getting the Bulldogs' first point on the board was Alberto Colas, who went the distance with UA's Roberto at the No. 4 position, taking a 6-4, 1-6, 6-0 victory.
With the last three contests all late in third sets and the match still very much in the balance, Alabama got the clinching point it needed when the 74th-ranked Ortiz posted a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 triumph over MSU's 51st-ranked Oradini at the No. 1 position.
The remaining two courts were then played out, with each team claiming one. On court 5, 'Bama's Roberto downed MSU's Carles Hernandez 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. Wrapping up play on the day was court 3, where the 71st-ranked Bulldog true freshman Malesevic would grind out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Tide's 101st-ranked veteran Zhou.
Next upon on the slate, the Bulldogs will return home to host Auburn this Sunday, April 4. Match time is slated for 1 p.m. MSU seniors Giovanni Oradini and Stedman Strickland will be honored prior to the contest.
No. 35 Alabama 5, No. 15 Mississippi State 2
April 2, 2021
Tuscaloosa, Ala.. – University of Alabama Tennis Stadium
Doubles
1. #52 Florian Broska/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. #25 Patrick Kaukovalta/Riccardo Roberto (UA) 7-5
2. Gabriel Diaz Freire/Zhe Zhou (UA) def. Giovanni Oradini/Stedman Strickland (MSU) 7-5
3. Alexey Nesterov/Edson Ortiz (UA) def. Nemanja Malesevic/Davide Tortora (MSU) 7-6(5)
Order of finish: 2,1,3
Singles
1. #74 Edson Ortiz (UA) def. #51 Giovanni Oradini (MSU 1-6, 7-5, 6-4
2. #113 Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) def. #45 Florian Broska (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
3. #71 Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. #101 Zhe Zhou (UA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Alberto Colas (MSU) def. Gabriel Diaz Freire (UA) 6-1, 4-6, 6-0
5. Riccardo Roberto (UA) def. Carles Hernandez (MSU) 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
6. Jeremy Gschwendtner (UA) def. #49 Davide Tortora (MSU) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: 2,6,4,1,5,3
Players Mentioned
