No. 12 Bulldogs Dominate No. 29 Sooners, Advance To Semifinals

Friday, April 18

Columbia, S.C.

5 p.m.

Mississippi State

Oklahoma

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

No. 12 Bulldogs Dominate No. 29 Sooners, Advance To Semifinals

April 18, 2025 | Men's Tennis

By: Peyton Burkhalter, Student Assistant

COLUMBIA, S.C.. – The Mississippi State men's tennis team, the second seed in the SEC Tournament, defeated the 10^th seeded Oklahoma Sooners on Friday 4-1 to advance to the Semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead with two doubles victories by tandems Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez, and Dusan Milanovic and Michal Novansky. This was the same fate the last time MSU played the Sooners back in March.

Mississippi State rolled to the 4-1 victory in singles play with three out of four matches that finished going to the Bulldogs. Jovanovic, Bryan Hernandez Cortes and Sanchez Martinez all extended their personal win streaks with their wins tonight.

MSU will face the No. 3 seed South Carolina on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the chance to advance to the finals.

Records
No. 12 Mississippi State (22-4, 11-3 SEC)
No. 29 Oklahoma (16-10, 7-7 SEC)

Match Notes

Mississippi State's win streak was extended to 8.
State now improved their record to 35-31 All time at the SEC tournament
The last time the SEC tournament was hosted by South Carolina, MSU advanced to the semifinals. It now has happened again with the victory tonight.
Having won tonight, this is the first time since 2019 that Mississippi State advanced to the semifinals. This is the seventh time we have reached the semifinals of the SEC tournament in school history.
Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez now have 54 career doubles wins together with their win tonight, which is good for second-place all-time. They only need three more doubles wins together to tie Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic for first place in school history.
They also notched their 16^th ranked doubles win of the year, which is the most by a pair in the entire SEC. This victory also marked their 13^th straight win, which is a career-long for both players.
Sanchez Martinez is currently on a 11 game win streak in singles play, which is a career-best for the German. He also holds the title of most ranked wins on the team in singles play with 11, adding one to his previous total of 10 with the win over No. 91 Oscar Lacides, 6-4, 7-6(4).
Sanchez Martinez is now tied with Martinez Serrano for the most amount of singles clinches on the team with 5, and overtook him in doubles clinches as he secured the doubles clinch in his win.
Jovanovic is currently on a singles hot streak as well, clinching his eighth straight with the victory over No. 97 Luis Alvarez, 6-0, 6-1. This is a season-high for him, and it is the third longest singles win streak on the team.
Bryan Hernandez Cortes now extends his win streak to four with the victory over Asahi Harazaki, 7-5, 6-3.

Up Next
No. 12 MSU will go up against No. 13 South Carolina on Saturday, April 19, at 2 p.m in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. Streaming will be on SECN+ and live stats will be available for the match.

Match Results
Doubles:
1. No. 2 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. No. 10 Oscar Lacides/Bruno Nhavene (OU) 7-5
2. No. 59 Niccolo Baroni/Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU) vs. Luis Alvarez/Alejandro Melero (OU) 5-6, unfinished
3. Dusan Milanovic/Michal Novansky (MSU) def. Asahi Harazaki/Jordan Hasson (OU) 6-1
Order of finish: (3,1)

Singles:
1. No. 29 Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. No. 91 Oscar Lacides (OU) 6-4, 7-6(4)
2. No. 61 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. No. 97 Luis Alvarez (OU) 6-0, 6-1
3. No. 94 Niccolo Baroni (MSU) vs. Orel Kimhi (OU) 7-6(4), 3-2, unfinished
4. Jordan Hasson (OU) def. Dusan Milanovic (MSU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. No. 117 Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU) Alejandro Melero (OU) 3-6, 6-3, 5-3, unfinished
6. Bryan Hernandez Cortes (MSU) def. Asahi Harazaki (OU) 7-5, 6-3
Order of finish: (2,6,4,1)

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

– HailState.com –