Mississippi State
Northern Illinois
No. 17 MSU Opens Season With Sunday Doubleheader
January 13, 2024 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State embarks on its 101st season of men's tennis with a Sunday doubleheader inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion.
The 17th-ranked Bulldogs welcome Northern Illinois at 10 a.m. followed by a match against Chattanooga at 2 p.m. to start off a six-match homestand to start off the year that culminates with hosting ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 27-28.
MSU is coming off a 21-8 campaign that saw the Bulldogs host the opening rounds of the 2023 NCAA Championships and advanced to the Round of 16 for the fourth time in the past five years. State returns five members of last season's Sweet 16 squad, including the top three players from its singles' lineup.
"We really talk specifics with the guys about the roots and not the fruits," said Matt Roberts, who is in his 10th season as head coach. "Last year, we did a really good job in those areas and I think this year we'll be just as good or better so we can develop even more and hopefully make more of a run in the NCAA Tournament, potentially host another round and get to the final site. We have some pretty big goals with this group, but I think the thing that we focus on that'll allow us to achieve those goals is the culture and I feel really good about that right now."
Helping cultivate that culture from a leadership standpoint are seniors Nemanja Malesevic and Carles Hernandez. Malesevic and Hernandez were both All-SEC selections in 2023. Malesevic spent most of last spring atop the Bulldogs' singles lineup while Hernandez generated a team-best 27-7 overall record, including a 21-5 dual match mark and an 8-3 record in SEC play.
Mississippi State also returns a sensational sophomore class that features Petar Jovanovic, Benito Sanchez Martinez and Michal Novansky. Jovanovic was selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team last season and enters this year ranked 13th nationally in singles and 24th in doubles alongside Sanchez Martinez.
Jovanovic dazzled in the fall with a 14-3 record with five victories over ranked opponents in singles and also an 8-4 mark in doubles with a trio of ranked wins. The 6-foot-4 native of Montenegro competed in both singles and doubles at the ITA Fall National Championships in San Diego, California in November where he won the singles consolation bracket.
"His off-court and on-court work ethics go hand-in-hand and are always turned on at 100-percent," said assistant coach Jake Jacoby. "He's an incredible listener and works his butt off every single day. It's those characteristics that have allowed him to have as many wins and as successful of a fall as he had in both singles and doubles with Benito."
The Bulldogs brought in four newcomers to the fold this season in freshmen Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes, Marshall Landry and Radomir Tomic along with junior transfer Dusan Milanovic. Milanovic was one of the prize additions out of the transfer portal during the offseason, arriving as 2022 Big South Freshman of the Year and 2023 Big South Player of the Year during his first two seasons at Presbyterian.
While Sunday's matches will be the first for MSU this season, both Northern Illinois and Chattanooga already have a match under their belts. The Huskies were able to top the Mocs 5-2 during a neutral site match Saturday afternoon inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion.
Sunday's matches will also mark just the second meeting between the Bulldogs and both programs and the first in over four decades. State won 6-3 over NIU in Memphis, Tennessee on April 20, 1973 but was edged 5-4 on the road at Chattanooga on April 9, 1978.
Since 1969, the Bulldogs are 36-19 in season openers and have won 11 of their last 12 openers, including seven straight.
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
