Mississippi State
Tennessee Tech
Saturday Sweep For Men's Tennis
February 25, 2023 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – Despite a 13-day break between matches and 20 days since last playing at home, Mississippi State men's tennis showed no signs of rust during a Saturday sweep.
The 20th-ranked Bulldogs blanked Tennessee Tech 7-0 on Saturday morning and capped the evening off with a 5-2 victory over UAB to improve to 11-1 on the year.
"Since we hadn't played in two weeks, it could've gone really good or really bad," said junior Carles Hernandez. "We came out locked in, ready to work and it went great today."
Hernandez and doubles partner Nemanja Malesevic – ranked 33rd nationally – set the tone for the day with their 6-0 victory over Tennessee Tech's Elias Grubert and Jaime Paquet to start things off. The freshman tandem of Michael Novansky and Benito Sanchez Martinez secured the doubles point for MSU with their 6-4 win over Mika Berghaus and Pol Masafret.
Novansky carried that momentum over to singles where he quickly dispatched Paulo Ramos Martin 6-1, 6-0 while Gregor Ramskogler prevailed over Masafret 6-0, 4-6, 6-0. Ewen Lumsden clinched things for the Bulldogs with his 6-4, 6-3 victory against Evzen Holis.
No. 107 Petar Jovanovic earned his 14th-straight singles win by topping Berhaus 7-6(5), 6-4 on Court 1. Patrick Lazo rallied for his second singles win of the spring against Paquet 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 and Sanchez Martinez closed out the sweep with his 6-4, 7-5 victory against Grubert.
State also claimed the doubles point during their second match of the day against UAB. Jovanovic and Ramskogler won 6-2 over Noah Malige and Nikola Puric to tie Ramskogler with Niclas Braun (2016-19) with 60 career dual match doubles victories, the most in school history.
After Novansky and Sanchez Martinez fell to Parker Bradbary and Roman Postolka 6-3, it was up to Hernandez and Malesevic to pull out the point for the Bulldogs. They were able to top Michal Lusovsky and Georgios Nouchakis 6-3 for their fourth clinch of the season.
Mississippi State also won the first three singles matches to secure the match before the Blazers were able to get on the board. Hernandez, ranked 113th in singles, took down Vojtech Podzemny 6-1, 6-4 while Malesevic defeated Lusovsky 6-3, 6-4 on Court 1.
Novansky clinched for the first time in his career with his 6-4, 7-5 victory against Carlos Gimenez Perez. Sanchez Martinez was also a winner, knocking off Nouchakis 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Jovanovic tasted defeat for the first time since Oct. 16 with his 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 loss to Roman Postolka while Ramskogler was a tough-luck loser after falling in two tiebreakers to Malige 4-6, 7-6(5), 1-0(3).
Saturday's wins pushed MSU's non-conference home winning streak to a dozen.
The Bulldogs begin Southeastern Conference play by hosting No. 15 Florida on Thursday at 3 p.m. The two teams met earlier this season during ITA Kickoff Weekend with the Gators claiming a 4-2 victory in Gainesville.
"These guys are ready to go," said head coach Matt Roberts. "They're healthy, mentally and physically. I think we're getting better and better and are super close as a team. We love training, traveling and competing together and when you have those three things clicking, you feel like you're succeeding and can just swing out. We're going to keep getting better so that we can compete at our highest level. We're having a lot of fun and are ready for the SEC season and compete in front of some great crowds."
No. 20 Mississippi State 7, Tennessee Tech 0
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre | Starkville, Miss.
Feb. 25, 2023
Doubles
1. No. 33 Carles Hernandez/Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. Elias Grubert/Jaime Paquet (TTU) 6-0
2. Petar Jovanovic/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) vs. Evzen Holis/Paulo Ramos Martin (TTU) 5-5, unfinished
3. Michal Novansky/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Mika Berghaus/Pol Masafret (TTU) 6-4
Order of finish: (1,3)
Singles
1. No. 107 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. Mika Bergaus (TTU) 7-6(5), 6-4
2. Ewen Lumsden (MSU) def. Evzen Holis (TTU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Elias Grubert (TTU) 6-4, 7-5
4. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Pol Masafret (TTU) 6-0, 4-6, 6-0
5. Michal Novansky (MSU) def. Paulo Ramos Martin (TTU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Patrick Lazo (MSU) def. Jaime Paquet (TTU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: (5,4,2,1,6,3)
No. 20 Mississippi State 5, UAB 2
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre | Starkville, Miss.
Feb. 25, 2023
Doubles
1. No. 33 Carles Hernandez/Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. Michal Lusovsky/Georgios Nouchakis (UAB) 6-3
2. Petar Jovanovic/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Noah Malige/Nikola Puric (UAB) 6-2
3. Parker Bradbary/Roman Postolka (UAB) def. Michal Novansky/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) 6-3
Order of finish: (2,3,1)
Singles
1. Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. Michal Lusovsky (UAB) 6-3, 6-4
2. Roman Postolka (UAB) def. No. 107 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
3. No. 113 Carles Hernandez (MSU) def. Vojtech Podzemny (UAB) 6-1, 6-4
4. Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Georgios Nouchakis (UAB) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
5. Noah Malige (UAB) def. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 4-6, 7-6(5), 1-0(3)
6. Michal Novansky (MSU) def. Carlos Gimenez-Perez (UAB) 6-4, 7-5
Order of finish: (3,1,6,5,2,4)
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
