Mississippi State
Kentucky
Top 15 Tennis Matchup Set For Sunday
March 16, 2024 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – The collective eyes of the college tennis landscape will be on the top 15 matchup at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre on Sunday.
No. 15 Mississippi State is set to host sixth-ranked Kentucky at 1 p.m. in a match that could have huge implications in the SEC standings and potential hosting sites for the NCAA Championships at the end of the season.
Matt Roberts' Bulldogs already have four ranked wins on their resume and enter the showdown with the Wildcats with an 11-4 overall record and are 3-1 in conference play. MSU has won back-to-back ranked matches at then No. 19 LSU 4-3 last Sunday and also at home over 64th-ranked Vanderbilt 5-2 on Friday.
No. 121 Carles Hernandez continues to roll in singles play. Hernandez has won 15 of his last 17 singles decisions dating back to last year.
No. 27 Petar Jovanovic picked up his 20th singles win of the season on Friday and tops the Bulldogs in that category. Nemanja Malesevic earned the 20th ranked singles victory of his career against the Commodores, topping 57th-ranked Danil Panarin 6-3, 6-3 to start the weekend.
Malesevic and Dusan Milanovic are both tied for the team lead with four match-clinchers this season. Milanovic clinched Friday's victory over Vandy.
Jovanovic also makes up the nation's No. 35 doubles duo alongside fellow sophomore Benito Sanchez Martinez. Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez have racked up 14 wins together this year.
Kentucky comes into Sunday's showdown at 13-2 on the spring and unbeaten at 4-0 in SEC play. The Wildcats have won six-straight matches and are coming off a 4-2 win at now No. 28 LSU on Friday.
UK is headlined by 21st-ranked Taha Baadi in singles while its doubles lineup features No. 13 Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer. Michal Novansky downed Baadi 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in Lexington last year while Jovanovic along with former Bulldog Ewen Lumsden defeated Lapadat and Mercer 7-5 in doubles.
The Wildcats beat State 4-3 last season with the Bulldogs shorthanded and without the services of Hernandez and Malesevic in that match.
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
