Mississippi State
Alabama
No. 17 Bulldogs Advance To SEC Quarterfinals With 4-1 Victory Over No. 18 Alabama
April 20, 2021 | Men's Tennis
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – With emotions at a high in its first match of the tournament, the 17th-ranked and ninth-seeded Mississippi State men's tennis team (16-8) advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2021 SEC Championship by way of a 4-1 victory over No. 18 and eighth-seeded Alabama (14-11) at Arkansas' George M. Billingsley Tennis Center Tuesday evening. Every match of the entire day was played indoors due to consistent and unseasonable snowfall in the region.
In Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup, the Bulldogs will face the 2021 SEC Champion Florida Gators – the tournament's top seed and the nation's No. 1 ranked team – at 6 p.m. CT. In the teams' only meeting this season, Florida posted a 7-0 victory over the Bulldogs in Starkville on March 14.
With Tuesday's victory, State avenged its 5-2 loss to the Crimson Tide earlier this month in Tuscaloosa. MSU has now won 11 of the last 12 meetings with Alabama.
"To sum it all up, I was very impressed with Gio (Oradini) and Nico (Ocana)'s resiliency in doubles tonight and I was very happy with how our guys stuck together in singles and competed as a team," MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. "Every court was very resilient. Even if we lost a first set, we made a great comeback and gave ourselves a chance to go three and just hung around.
"Now we keep rolling and look at Florida tomorrow. They have been undefeated in the SEC, and only have one loss, but we are going to be ready to go. We know we can do it. We have to be really good tomorrow and we have to compete really well while sticking to our game plan. If we do that, we think good things can happen."
The Bulldogs would bring the fight from the first point early on against the Crimson Tide Tuesday as their emotion and determination would clinch the doubles point to start the night off. Court 1 would need only one break early on where the 24th-ranked MSU duo of Florian Broska and Gregor Ramskogler to claim a 6-4 upset victory over the 21st-ranked UA duo of Patrick Kaukovalta and Riccardo Roberto. Evening things up was court 2, where the "Bama tandem of Alexey Nesterov and Edson Ortiz downed Nemanja Malesevic and Davide Tortora, also by a 6-4 margin. With the opening point on the line, State's tandem of Nicolas Ocana and Giovanni Oradini broke Alabama's pair of Marcel Sepulveda and Zhe Zhou to go up 5-4 at the No. 3 spot and then served out the win convincingly 6-4.
The Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide would split the six first sets in singles, making things very competitive throughout. But MSU would ultimately claim three of the first four matches to finish and clinch the team win.
Alabama's only point of the night actually came from the first court to wrap up. On court 6, UA's Nesterov ousted MSU's 70th-ranked Davide Tortora 6-3, 6-3 to even the score at 1-1.
Court 1 would finish next with State's 33rd-ranked Oradini taking a pivotal first-set tiebreaker to go on and oust Alabama's 47th-ranked Ortiz in a thrilling 7-6(8), 6-1 affair. Finishing soon after would be court 2, where MSU's 41st-ranked Broska went the distance with the 83rd-ranked Kaukovalta, pulling out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 triumph to extend State's lead to 3-1.
Then, clinching his fourth match against and SEC foe this season, true freshman Carles Hernandez upended Alabama's Jeremy Gschwendtner 6-1, 7-6(1) at the No. 5 position.
The final two matches were then suspended. At the No. 3 position, MSU's 65th-ranked Malesevic led 3-6, 6-2, 5-1 over 'Bama's 69th-ranked Zhou. On court 4, Alabama's Roberto held a slim third-set lead on State's Alberto Colas, up 6-4, 3-6, 3-2 when play was halted.
No. 17 Mississippi State 4, No. 18 Alabama 1
2021 SEC Championship – Second Round
April 20, 2021
Fayetteville, Ark. – George M. Billingsley Tennis Center
Doubles
1. #24 Florian Broska/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. #21 Patrick Kaukovalta/Riccardo Roberto (UA) 6-4
2. Alexey Nesterov/Edson Ortiz (UA) def. Nemanja Malesevic/Davide Tortora (MSU) 6-4
3. Nicolas Ocana/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Marcelo Sepulveda/Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-4
Order of finish: 1,2,3
Singles
1. #33 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. #47 Edson Ortiz (UA) 7-6(8), 6-1
2. #41 Florian Broska (MSU) def. #83 Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
3. #65 Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) vs. #69 Zhe Zhou (UA) 3-6, 6-2, 5-1 (susp.)
4. Riccardo Roberto (UA) vs. Alberto Colas (MSU) 6-4, 3-6, 3-2 (susp.)
5. Carles Hernandez (MSU) def. Jeremy Gschwendtner (UA) 6-1, 7-6(1)
6. Alexey Nesterov (UA) def. #70 Davide Tortora (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 6,1,2,5
Players Mentioned
