Mississippi State
South Alabama
Bulldogs Blank South Alabama, 7-0
January 16, 2023 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State men's tennis is off to a roaring start to the season.
Not only are the Bulldogs 2-0, they have outscored their opponents 13-1 in the opening two matches. MSU earned the second of those wins on Monday by blanking South Alabama 7-0 in their first outdoor outing of the year at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
"We've been practicing a lot outside and were ready to play some outdoor tennis," said head coach Matt Roberts. "It was good to get out here and play a tough South Alabama team."
Although MSU was able to sweep all six singles matches, the Jaguars (3-1) put up a quite a fight in doubles to start the day. The Bulldogs' 42nd-ranked duo of Carles Hernandez and Nemanja Malesevic, however, began with a huge 6-3 victory over USA's 16th-ranked team of Jack Clements and Louis Delcour.
"I didn't even know they were ranked 16th until after the match actually," Hernandez said. "Honestly, we really don't pay attention to those things. We just go straight to what we've done in practices and go out there with a lot of energy and try to have as much fun as possible."
After Ewen Lumsden and Michal Novansky dropped their doubles match 6-3 to Sebastien Collard and Steyn Dippenaar, it was up to Petar Jovanovic and Gregor Ramskogler to secure the point for State.
Jovanovic and Ramskogler fought through three match points and rallied to win 7-5 over Juan Accossatto and Maxime St-Hilaire.
"It was a challenging doubles point," Roberts said. "I was really happy with how Gregor served it out and how they stayed resilient. It came down to Pete and Gregor's court. They made a good push at the end and that's big for our team moving forward."
The doubles win was the 75th of Ramskogler's career, which moved him into a tie with Trevor Foshey (2016-19) for the eighth-most doubles victories at Mississippi State. He also stands alone at sixth on the school's all-time dual match doubles wins list.
In singles, MSU was able to secure five of its courts in straight sets. Benito Sanchez Martinez notched the Bulldogs first singles victory, breezing past Accossatto 6-2, 6-1. Lumsden wasn't far behind with his 6-2, 6-1 victory against Javier Montoya and Jovanovic – ranked 107th in singles – clinched the win with a 6-3, 6-3 showing against Clements.
Novansky made his collegiate singles debut on Monday and found instant success, prevailing against Dippenaar 6-2, 6-3.
"For his first dual match in singles, I thought he stayed composed and played really good, disciplined tennis," Roberts said.
The lone match that stretched to three sets was between Malesevic and 123rd-ranked Collard on Court 1. Collard blanked Malesevic 6-0 in the first set but the junior Bulldog battled back to take the final two 6-1, 6-4 and closed out the shutout.
"It was good to get those reps where I felt squeezed," Malesevic said. "That's what I needed to get going. Everybody – even the guys back home – tells me that I start slow and then get it going. It was a huge win for me and my confidence. I'm just going to keep grinding every week."
After earning its sixth straight win against South Alabama, Mississippi State returns in action on Sunday with a doubleheader. The Bulldogs take on Middle Tennessee at noon in the opening match followed by a matchup against Tennessee State at 4 p.m.
Mississippi State 7, South Alabama 0
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre | Starkville, Miss.
Jan. 16, 2023
Doubles
1. No. 42 Carles Hernandez/Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. No.16 Jack Clements/Louis Delcour (USA) 6-3
2. Sebastien Collard/Steyn Dippenaar (USA) def. Ewen Lumsden/Michal Novansky (MSU) 6-3
3. Petar Jovanovic/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Juan Accossatto/Maxime St-Hilaire (USA) 7-5
Order of finish: (2,1,3)
Singles
1. Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. No.123 Sebastien Collard (USA) 0-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. No. 107 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. Jack Clements (USA) 6-3, 6-3
3. Carles Hernandez (MSU) def. Maxime St-Hilaire (USA) 6-1, 6-4
4. Ewen Lumsden (MSU) def. Javier Montoya (USA) 6-2, 6-1
5. Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Juan Accossatto (USA) 6-2, 6-1
6. Michal Novansky (MSU) def. Steyn Dippenaar (USA) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: (5,4,2,6,3,1)
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
