Mississippi State
Florida
No. 19 State Earns Second-Straight Ranked SEC Road Win
March 24, 2024 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla., - No. 19 Mississippi State's match at 33rd-ranked Florida was a fight to right to the finish.
It took a third-set tiebreaker on the final court to decide a winner in Sunday's battle between the Bulldogs and Gators. However, Carles Hernandez ultimately came through for MSU and enabled the Bulldogs to capture their second straight ranked SEC road win of the weekend 4-3.
State (13-5, 5-2 SEC) also prevailed by the same score at No. 16 South Carolina on Friday and have won four of its last five conference matches, all against ranked opponents.
"I'm pleased with our team's resilience and how they worked together this weekend on each court," said head coach Matt Roberts. "Today, we were down a doubles point and only won three first sets, but they hung in there and put themselves in a winnable position on all courts. That's what it's all about."
Nemanja Malesevic and Michal Novansky won their doubles match 7-5 over Kevin Edengren and Tanapatt Nirundorn but it was the Gators that took the early advantage by claiming the doubles point.
The Bulldogs stole the momentum by earning three straight victories to start singles. Benito Sanchez Martinez beat Henry Jefferson 6-3, 6-2 while No. 39 Petar Jovanovic defeated Aidan Kim in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. Malesevic – ranked 118th in singles – downed No. 66 Jeremy Jin 7-5, 6-2 on court 1 to push Mississippi State's lead to 3-1.
Malesevic is now tied for the team lead with Jovanovic with four ranked singles wins this season. It was also the 21st ranked win in singles of Malesevic's career.
The Gators (9-9, 3-5 SEC), however, didn't go away and took Courts 4 and 6 to knot things at three-all and leaving it in the hands of Hernandez and Nate Bonetto to decide the day's victor.
Bonetto grabbed the upper hand by winning the opening set 6-3, but Hernandez bounced back by taking the second set 6-2. A third-set tiebreaker was needed, but Hernandez came out on top 7-2 to clinch his second match of the spring and 14th of his career.
The Bulldogs now return to Starkville for a four-match homestand beginning against rival No. 51 Ole Miss on Friday at 5 p.m. and continuing with a Sunday doubleheader against 28th-ranked Alabama and Troy at noon and 4 p.m. respectively.
"We look forward to three home matches at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre on Friday and Sunday," Roberts said. "We hope to have a big crowd and that we can show our fan base how hard our guys are fighting right now."
No. 19 Mississippi State 4, No. 33 Florida 3Linder Stadium | Gainesville, Fla.
March 24, 2024
Doubles
1. No. 67 Nate Bonetto/Aidan Kim (UF) def. No. 37 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) 6-2
2. Jeremy Jin/Henry Jefferson (UF) def. Carles Hernandez/Dusan Milanovic (MSU) 7-5
3. Nemanja Malesevic/Michal Novansky (MSU) def. Kevin Edengren/Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) 7-5
Order of Finish: (1,3,2)
Singles
1. No. 118 Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. No. 66 Jeremy Jin (UF) 7-5, 6-3
2. No. 39 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. Aidan Kim (UF) 6-2, 6-2
3. Carles Hernandez (MSU) def. Nate Bonetto (UF) 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(2)
4. Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) def. Dusan Milanovic (MSU) 7-5, 7-5
5. Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Henry Jefferson (UF) 6-3, 6-2
6. Kevin Edengren (UF) def. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Order of finish: (5,2,1,4,6,3)
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
