Men's Tennis Set For Busy Fall Slate
August 15, 2024 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – A busy schedule awaits head coach Matt Roberts and the Mississippi State men's tennis team this fall.
The Bulldogs have 13 events on their dockets during a two-month span beginning in mid-September to help prepare them for the challenging gauntlet of dual match play that awaits them in the spring.
"You're just trying to get in as many matches as you can in the fall since it's more of our developmental period," Roberts said. "Our fall schedule has a lot of options for the guys whether they're trying to qualify for NCAAs or just get matches, we're try to give them a lot of opportunities to play."
MSU opens its fall slate across the state line in Tuscaloosa for the SEC Bama Invite from Sept. 13-15. For the third time in the last four years, the Bulldogs will also compete in the GT Invite hosted by Georgia Tech from Nov. 1-3.
There are six International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments that various players will have the opportunity earn ATP points at scattered throughout the fall. Several State competitors will be in action at the Fayetteville 15K (Sept. 16-21), Ann Arbor 15K (Sept.30-Oct. 6), Louisville 25K (Oct. 7-13), Winston-Salem 15K (Oct. 14-20), Norman 25K (Oct. 21-27) and the Knoxville Challenger (Nov. 3-10).
After traditionally playing the NCAA Individual Championships at the end of the spring slate, this year that event will wrap up the fall in Waco, Texas from Nov. 17-22. In order to compete for an NCAA singles and/or doubles title, players will have a chance to qualify in four tournaments leading up to that event.
The ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Sept. 21-29), ITA Southern Regionals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Oct. 16-21), ITA Sectional Championships in Tallahassee, Florida (Nov. 7-10) and ITA Conference Masters Championships in San Diego, California (Nov. 7-10) will serve as qualifiers for the NCAA Individual Championships.
Petar Jovanovic competed in both singles and doubles at the NCAA Individual Championships back in May. Jovanovic along with partner Benito Sanchez Martinez each earned All-American status by reaching the doubles quarterfinals at the event.
Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez will both be back from a Mississippi State squad that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championships for the fifth time in six seasons this past year. The Bulldogs return seven members from that team and have added two-time All-Sun Belt first team performer Mario Martinez Serrano from Troy and blue-chip recruit Niccoló Baroni of Italy to the fold.
Other offseason moves made by Roberts were promoting Jake Jacoby to associate head coach and adding Trevor Gotkowski to his staff as an assistant coach.
Coaches and players will begin preparing for the eventful fall slate with their first practice scheduled for Aug. 21.
"The first thing to do in the fall is to get guys meshing well with good practices and adversity tweaked with conditioning and weight (room) sessions," Roberts said.
Last fall, Jovanovic won the singles consolation bracket at the ITA National Fall Championships in San Diego, California while Marshall Landry and the now graduated Nemanja Malesevic claimed the doubles title at the GT Invite.
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
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