Mississippi State
Samford
No. 11 MSU Opens Season Against Samford
January 11, 2025 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – After making 13 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Championships and reaching the Sweet 16 in five of the past six seasons, No. 11 Mississippi State is set to start its spring slate with a 12-match homestand beginning against Samford on Sunday inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion at 1 p.m.
Opening day was originally scheduled as a doubleheader with Tennessee State but the Tigers were unable to make the trip due to hazardous road conditions caused by winter storms.
MSU is coming off a 19-8 campaign last spring in which it posted a 9-3 mark in Southeastern Conference play to finish third in the league standings. State went on to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament and reached the Round of 16 for the second-straight year.
Mississippi State brings back seven players from last year's squad including two-time All-Americans Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez. Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez enter the dual match season ranked ninth nationally in doubles after posting an 11-3 record together in the fall which culminated in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Individual Championships.
Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez have earned an impressive 36-16 career record teaming alongside one another, which is currently tied for eighth all-time in MSU history with Kristian Broems and Per Nilsson (1993-94). With their next win, the junior duo will move into a seventh-place tie with Mark Jeffrey and Mihnea Nastase (1988-90) and Louis Cant and Malte Stropp (2011-12).
Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez are not the only doubles tandem that enters the spring ranked. Newcomers Niccolo Baroni and Mario Martinez Serrano are currently No. 20 nationally and like Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez, completed at the NCAA Individual Championships in November.
Mississippi State earned five total entries into the NCAA Individual Championships, the most in the SEC and second-most in the country. Baroni, Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez also competed in singles at the event.
"Having NCAAs in the fall instead of the spring just created more urgency in the week-to-week grind and how we prepare for tournaments," said head coach Matt Roberts. "We were playing to get into the NCAA Tournament in the fall. Every fall we work hard and focus on how we can improve, but this fall was really unique. We traveled more, played more tournaments and got guys used to managing school on the road. I just thought the fall was great. We worked really hard, got closer as a team and got tougher."
Jovanovic (45), Baroni (72), Martinez Serrano (81) and Sanchez Martinez (103) come into dual match season ranked in singles after going a combined 25-10 during the fall slate.
Sunday could also mark the debut of freshman Bryan Hernandez Cortes, who joined the team last week.
Since 1969, MSU is 37-19 in season openers and has prevailed in eight straight and 12 of the last 13 years.
Samford is also making its 2025 debut following a 15-8 overall showing last spring that saw the other breed of Bulldogs go 6-1 and finish second in the Southern Conference.
Mississippi State leads the overall series against Samford 14-3 which includes an 11-2 mark in Starkville. State has claimed 12-straight matches in the series dating back to 1975 with the last seven wins all coming as shutouts.
MSU won the last meeting 6-0 against Samford in Starkville on Jan. 11, 2020.
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
