No. 17 State Takes Down No. 29 Gators

Saturday, March 29

Starkville

1 p.m.

Mississippi State

Florida

Photo by: Ivy Ball/MSU Athletics

No. 17 State Takes Down No. 29 Gators

March 29, 2025 | Men's Tennis

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By: Thomas Hunt, Student Assistant

STARKVILLE – The Mississippi State men's tennis team remains undefeated in SEC home contests taking down No. 29 Florida 5-2 on Saturday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

State has yet to drop a doubles point since SEC play began with wins today from Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez and Niccolo Baroni and Mario Martinez Serrano.

To begin singles play, Martinez Serrano defeated No. 113 Henry Jefferson 6-2, 6-2 to extend MSU's lead to 2-0. Florida would tighten the score at 2-1 after a win on court six, but the Bulldogs quickly responded with a win courtesy of a 6-1, 6-4 win from Baroni. The Gators fought back claiming another singles point to make the score 3-2. However, Sanchez Martinez and Jovanovic won two singles matches to end the day and give State a 5-2 triumph. This victory moves MSU to 15-1 at home and 7-3 in the SEC.

Records
No. 17 Mississippi State (17-4, 7-3 SEC)
No. 29 Florida (12-8, 6-4 SEC)

Match Notes

Mississippi State is now 15-1 at home, which is the most home wins in the SEC.
The Bulldogs are also undefeated in SEC play when they are in Starkville with a 5-0 record.
Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez improve to 8-0 in SEC doubles play with six of those wins occurring against ranked opponents inside the top 40.
Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez now have 49 career doubles wins together, which is good for third-place all-time in school history. They need one more win to tie Nichlas Braun and Giovanni Oradini for second-most all time.
Niccolo Baroni and Mario Martinez Serrano clinched the doubles point for the Bulldogs, which extends their doubles clinching streak to four. It's also their second doubles clinch of the weekend.
Sanchez Martinez extends his win streak to six and improved his SEC record to 8-2 after his singles win over No. 124 Adhithya Ganesan 6-3, 6-2. He has nine ranked wins on the season which is the most on the team.

Up Next
No. 17 MSU hosts No. 12 Texas A&M on Thursday at 3 p.m. and No. 31 Auburn on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Match Results
Doubles:
1. No. 4 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. No. 18 Henry Jefferson/Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) 6-2
2. No. 39 Niccolo Baroni/Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU) def. Adhithya Ganesan/Jeremy Jin (UF) 6-4
3. Dusan Milanovic/Michal Novansky (MSU) vs. Kevin Edengren/Ben Weintraub (UF) 6-5, unfinished
Order of finish: (1,2)

Singles:
1. No. 38 Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. No. 124 Adhithya Ganesan (UF) 6-3, 6-2
2. No. 100 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. No. 65 Jeremy Jin (UF) 7-5, 6-3
3. No. 117 Niccolo Baroni (MSU) def. JanMagnus Johnson (UF) 6-1, 6-4
4. No. 95 Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU) def. No. 113 Henry Jefferson (UF) 6-2, 6-2
5. Kevin Edengren (UF) def. Dusan Milanovic (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Neils Villard (UF) def. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes (MSU) 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: (4,6,3,5,1,2)

For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.