Mississippi State
Alabama
No. 13 Bulldogs Set To Host No. 21 Alabama
March 30, 2024 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – After giving 56th-ranked Ole Miss a giant goose egg on Good Friday, No. 13 Mississippi State looks to complete a perfect Easter weekend when it hosts 21st-ranked Alabama on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Bulldogs blanked their in-state rival Ole Miss 7-0 to earn their third consecutive ranked win and seventh over a ranked opponent this season. MSU (14-5, 6-2 SEC) heads into Sunday's match against the Crimson Tide having won nine of its last 11 matches and tied for third in the conference standings.
During Friday's win over the Rebels, senior Carles Hernandez picked up two victories to push his career total to 100. Hernandez has won 69 singles and 31 doubles matches over the course of his career.
Reigning SEC Player of the Week Petar Jovanovic clinched both the doubles point and the match against Ole Miss on Friday. Jovanovic is ranked No. 35 in singles and No. 37 in doubles alongside fellow sophomore Benito Sanchez Martinez.
Jovanovic has won five consecutive singles matches and also leads the team with 24 singles wins on the year.
No. 118 Nemanja Malesevic is getting it done atop the Bulldogs' lineup having earned eight of his 11 singles wins this spring at the No. 1 position.
Alabama enters Sunday's contest at 15-9 and 4-4 in league play. The Crimson Tide have won four of their last five matches but is coming off a 5-2 loss at eighth-ranked Tennessee on Friday.
Alabama's singles lineup features No. 42 Filip Planinsek and No. 84 Enzo Aguiard as well as the 69th-ranked doubles tandem of Planinsek and Andrii Zimnokh.
Jovanovic defeated Planinsek 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 back in October at the ITA Southern Regional Championships in Auburn, Alabama. He and Sanchez Martinez also secured a 6-4, 6-4 doubles win against Planinsek and Zimnokh during the ITA Fall National Championships in San Diego, California in November.
Mississippi State leads the series against the Tide 38-26 overall and 18-12 in Starkville. The Bulldogs have beaten Alabama in 13 of the last 15 meetings since 2011.
MSU split last year's matchups with the Crimson Tide. The Bulldogs won 4-3 in Tuscaloosa during the regular season but fell by the same score in the second round of the SEC Championships in Auburn with Malesevic sidelined with an ankle injury.
Hernandez, Jovanovic and Malesevic all earned singles victories over Planinsek last season. Hernandez and Jovanovic also claimed singles wins against Aguiard in 2022-23. Sanchez Martinez also picked up a pair of wins against Alabama's Roan Jones last spring.
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
