No. 16 Bulldog Tennis Set For SEC Road Battles At Vanderbilt, No. 17 Kentucky This Weekend

Friday, April 9

Nashville, Tenn.

2:00 PM

Mississippi State

Vanderbilt

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

No. 16 Bulldog Tennis Set For SEC Road Battles At Vanderbilt, No. 17 Kentucky This Weekend

April 08, 2021 | Men's Tennis

Live Video (at Vanderbilt)Live Stats (at Vanderbilt)Live Stats (at Kentucky)

By: Graham Murphree, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – After a dominating performance on Wednesday in a 4-0 win over Arkansas, the 16th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team makes a quick turnaround to close out the 2021 regular season on the road this weekend. The Bulldogs (14-7, 4-6 SEC) will take on Vanderbilt (6-13, 0-10 SEC) Friday at 2 p.m. CT and then meet No. 17 Kentucky (15-6, 5-5 SEC) in Lexington at 12 p.m. CT Sunday.

Live Video/Stats
Live Video and Live Stats will be available for Friday's match at Vanderbilt. Live Stats will also be available for Sunday's contest at UK.

MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings…
The Bulldogs are currently ranked 16th nationally as a team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in the latest poll (Apr. 7). In the ITA national singles rankings, State is led by veteran Florian Broska at No. 45 in the country. Up next with his highest ranking of his young Bulldog career, Davide Tortora comes in at No. 49. Following right behind is senior and two-time All-American Giovanni Oradini at No. 51 nationally in singles. Rounding at the rankings, true freshman Nemanja Malesevic leads the next generation of Bulldogs at No. 71 in the country. In doubles, the Bulldogs' top duo of Broska and Gregor Ramskogler check in as the nation's 52^nd-ranked tandem.

Know The Foe: Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt will enter Friday's match with a 6-13 overall mark, while holding a 0-10 league record. In their most recent outing, the Commodores dropped a 6-1 affair at home to visiting No. 10 South Carolina this past Sunday.

Vanderbilt is currently led by George Harwell – ranked 98^th nationally in singles - at the top of their lineup. Harwell teams up with Max Freeman to hold down court 1 in doubles for the Commodores.

MSU currently holds a 42-14 record against the Commodores all-time (since 1969). The Bulldogs have won the last five meetings between the teams, a streak that started in 2017.

Know The Foe: Kentucky
Kentucky will enter Sunday's match with a 15-6 overall mark, while holding a 5-5 conference record. In their last match on court, the Wildcats dropped a tough 5-2 decision on the road at No. 1 Florida.

UK currently has four players among the nation's top 100 singles players. Liam Draxl leads the way at No. 7 in the country. He is joined by teammates Gabriel Diallo (31^st), Millon Hurrion (60^th) and Joshua Lapadat (97^th). In doubles, the Wildcat tandem of Cesar Bourgois and Diallo is ranked 20^th nationally.

The Wildcats hold a slight 29-24 edge on the Bulldogs in the all-time series (since 1969), but State has claimed the last six matches between the programs, a streak that began in 2015.

Need To Know…

Mississippi State is playing its 98th season of men's tennis, with Matt Roberts in his seventh season at the helm.
The Bulldogs sit at 14-7 overall, 4-6 in the SEC.
MSU is currently ranked 16th nationally as a team by the ITA in the latest poll (Apr. 7).
Six of seven of State's losses this season have all come to current Top 12 teams – No. 1 Florida, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 7 TCU, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 10 Georgia and No. 12 Ole Miss.
Under head coach Matt Roberts, MSU is 129-46 overall in his seven seasons at the helm of the Bulldogs.
Roberts is 76-13 at home, 13-3 in 2021.
True freshman Nemanja Malesevic leads the Maroon and White in overall wins (32) in 2020-21.
Malesevic and Florida Broska are tied for the team lead in overall dual match wins (22) this spring.
Davide Tortora leads the Bulldogs with the highest win percentage in singles dual matches (7-1, .875). He is 11-4 when including doubles.
True freshman Carles Hernandez sits at 13-6 in singles this season and has clinched three SEC wins for State – 4-3 wins over No. 38 LSU and No. 14 South Carolina, and MSU's 6-1 triumph over Auburn.

Last Time Out…
In their most recent outing this past Wednesday, the Bulldogs clinched a tight doubles point against visiting Arkansas with wins coming on courts 1 and 3. Registering straight-set wins for the Bulldogs in singles to clinch the match for State were Giovanni Oradini, Florian Broska, Nemanja Malesevic.

Next Up For MSU…
Following this weekend's road tests, MSU will begin preparation for the 2021 SEC Tournament Championship, to be held April 19-23 in Fayetteville, Ark. State is the two-time defending champion of the event, having claimed the tournament crown in both 2018 and 2019 (the event was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.