Mississippi State
LSU
No. 22 State Secures Top 20 Road Win
March 10, 2024 | Men's Tennis
BATON ROUGE, La., - Although senior Nemanja Malesevic and freshman Radomir Tomic are at opposite ends of the experience spectrum in their collegiate careers, both came up clutch for No. 22 Mississippi State on Sunday.
The Bulldogs were trailing 19th-ranked LSU 3-2 and needed Malesevic and Tomic to each pull through in their third sets of singles. Fortunately for MSU, both Balkans did just that as the Bulldogs rallied for a 4-3 victory on the road.
"I'm extremely proud of 'Rade' (Tomic) on Court 6 for us," said head coach Matt Roberts. "He came through against a very solid spot for LSU today. Then coming down to 'Memo' (Malesevic) on Court 1, it was a great moment for him. It's never an easy match in the conference, especially on the road."
Tomic knotted the match following a polarizing battle with Julien Penzlin. Tomic took the first set 6-1 but dropped the second by the same score. The rookie from Bosnia and Herzegovina rallied, however, and took the third set 6-2 leaving the match up to the top of the respective lineups to decide the overall winner.
Malesevic dropped his opening set to Stefan Latinovic 5-7 but bounced back to win the second and third sets by 6-4 scores to give the Bulldogs (10-4, 2-1 SEC) their third ranked win of the season and second in conference play.
It was the 20th time Malesevic has clinched a match for Mississippi State in his career and his team-leading fourth this season.
No. 34 Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez picked up a ranked doubles win for the Bulldogs by beating 51st-ranked Latinovic and Aleksi Lofman 6-3. But it was LSU that gained the early momentum by winning the doubles point after taking the other two courts.
The Tigers pressed their advantage more at the start of singles as Lofman upset No. 27 Jovanovic 6-3, 6-3. Dusan Milanovic got MSU on the board by downing Chen Dong in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 before No. 121 Carles Hernandez evened things up with his 6-2, 6-4 victory over George Stoupe.
Rudy Ceccon put LSU back out in front briefly following his 7-5, 6-4 win over Sanchez Martinez and set the stage for Tomic and Malesevic's heroics.
"I'm very proud of the fight we showed today across the board," Roberts said. "After a tough doubles point, we managed to stay resilient and hang around to give ourselves a chance."
The Bulldogs return home next weekend hosting Vanderbilt on Friday at 3 p.m. and Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m.
No. 22 Mississippi State 4, No. 19 LSU 3LSU Tennis Complex | Baton Rouge, La.
March 10, 2024
Doubles
1. No. 34 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. No. 51 Stefan Latinovic/Aleksi Lofman (LSU) 6-3
2. No. 73 Welsh Hotard/George Stoupe (LSU) def. Carles Hernandez/Dusan Milanovic (MSU) 7-5
3. Chen Dong/Julien Penzlin (LSU) def. Nemanja Malesevic/Michal Novansky (MSU) 6-2
Order of finish: (3,1,2)
Singles
1. Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. Stefan Latinovic (LSU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
2. Aleksi Lofman (LSU) def. No. 27 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
3. No. 121 Carles Hernandez (MSU) def. George Stoupe (LSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Dusan Milanovic (MSU) def. Chen Dong (LSU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Rudy Ceccon (LSU) def. Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) 7-5, 6-4
6. Radomir Tomic (MSU) def. Julien Penzlin (LSU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
Order of finish: (2,4,3,5,6,1)
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
