Bulldogs Stay Busy At ITA All-American
September 23, 2024 | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. – After making deep runs in the ITF Fayetteville 15K over the past week, Mississippi State's Benito Sanchez Martinez and Mario Martinez Serrano both had quick turnarounds to compete in the ITA All-American Championships.
Sanchez Martinez claimed the singles championship at the ITF Fayetteville 15K on Sunday afternoon and was back in action early Monday morning for the first round of singles qualifying at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa.
Competing in his 11th match in a span of eight-straight days, Sanchez Martinez – ranked 107th nationally – succumbed to No. 81 Luciano Tacchi of Wake Forest 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to snap his seven-match winning streak in singles to start the season.
Following his quarterfinal run in doubles and semifinal finish in singles in Arkansas, No. 60 Martinez Serrano was also back on the court on Monday. The junior started strong by beating Clemson's Maxwell Smith 7-5 in the opening set but dropped the next two 6-0, 6-2 to fall into the consolation bracket in Tulsa.
Sanchez Martinez will meet UCF's 87th-ranked Yassine Dlimi on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. in the first round of the qualifying consolation bracket while Martinez Serrano takes on No. 100 Derek Pham of Oklahoma State at 1:30 p.m. Sanchez Martinez defeated Pham last Thursday by winning the first set 6-1 before the Cowboys' sophomore from Australia retired.
The main draw of the ITA All-American Championships begins on Wednesday with MSU's top-ranked doubles tandem of Sanchez Martinez and Petar Jovanovic as the No. 1 seed. Jovanovic will also compete in singles at the event and is ranked 12th nationally.
ITA All-American ChampionshipsMichael D. Case Tennis Center | Tulsa, Okla.
Sept. 23, 2024
Singles:
Qualifying First Round
No. 81 Luciano Tacchi (Wake Forest) def. No. 107 Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU): 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Maxwell Smith (Clemson) def. No. 60 Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU): 5-7, 6-0, 6-2
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
