State Starts Strong with Doubleheader Wins to Open the Season

Saturday, January 10

Dallas, Texas

10 a.m.

Mississippi State

SMU

State Starts Strong with Doubleheader Wins to Open the Season

January 10, 2026 | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Tad Couch, Athletic Communications Student Intern

DALLAS – In State's first two matches of the season, the No. 7 Mississippi State Bulldogs took down SMU 5-2, followed by a 6-1 victory over Lamar University on Saturday at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex in Dallas, Texas.

The Bulldogs took an early lead on the Mustangs, winning the doubles point thanks to a pair of 6-4 victories by the teams of No. 2 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez and Bryan Hernandez Cortes/Michal Novansky.

SMU evened the score at one behind a victory from No. 2 Trevor Svadja, but Petar Jovanovic responded putting the Dawgs back on top. Freshman Raphael Vaksmann extended the lead in his first career dual match. SMU's Jerry Barton cut the lead to one but the Bulldogs' response was too much for the Mustangs to overcome. Mario Martinez Serrano clinched the victory for the Bulldogs and Niccolo Baroni tacked on an extra point at the end.

The afternoon matchup versus Lamar started with Bulldog domination in doubles. Martinez Serrano/Baroni took down Nickel/Lindstedt in a quick 6-4 match. Hernandez Cortes/Novansky did much of the same clinching their matchup 6-2 to claim the doubles point.

In singles action, the Bulldogs were able to secure three quick points with victories from No. 13 Petar Jovanovic, Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes, and No. 54 Benito Sanchez Martinez. Michal Novansky and Marshall Landry tacked on an additional two points. Sophomore Bryan Hernandez Cortes fell to Rintaro Shukuda in three sets closing out the afternoon with a 6-1 victory.

Records
No. 7 Mississippi State (2-0, 0-0 SEC)
Southern Methodist (0-1, 0-0 ACC)
Lamar (0-1, 0-0 SLC)

Match Notes
•  State starts the year 2-0 for the 10^th consecutive season
• Petar Jovanovic won his 180^th career match putting him second all-time in career wins just nine shy of Nuno Borges' tally of 189.
•  Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez extend their career doubles win total to 66, most all-time in program history.
•  State have won the doubles point in seven consecutive matches.
•  Jovanovic has also moved into third all-time in career doubles wins tied with Gregor Ramskogler at 86.
•  Michal Novansky and Bryan Hernandez Cortes picked up a pair of doubles wins as a tandem, clinching the doubles point in both matches
•  Freshman Raphael Vaksmann picked up his first ever dual singles victory defeating Noah McDonald (SMU) - 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Up Next
No. 7 Mississippi State will travel to No. 24 Illinois on Friday at 6 p.m.

Match Results (SMU)
Doubles:
1. No. 2 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Trevor Svajda/Alex Finkelstein (SMU) 6-4
2. Krish Arora/ Georgi Georgiev (SMU) def. Niccolo Baroni/Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU) 3-6
3. Bryan Hernandez Cortes/Michal Novansky (MSU) def. Jerry Barton/Vikas Deo (SMU) 6-4*
Order of finish: (1, 2, 3*)
*Clincher

Singles:
1. No. 2 Trevor Svajda (SMU) def. No. 54 Benito Sanchez Martinez (2-6, 3-6)
2. No. 13 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. Alex Finkelstein (6-3, 2-6, 6-1)
3. Niccolo Baroni (MSU) def. Georgi Georgiev (2-6, 6-3, 6-4)
4. No. 37 Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU) def. Krish Arora (6-3, 4-6, 6-2)*
5. Jerry Barton def. No. 34 Bryan Hernandez Cortes (6-3, 4-6, 2-6)
6. No. 125 Raphael Vaksmann def. Noah McDonald (6-4, 3-6, 6-1)
Order of Finish: (1, 2, 6, 5, 4*, 3)
* Clincher

Match Results (Lamar)
Doubles:
1. Niccolo Baroni/Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU) def. Leon Nickel/Maxwell Lindstedt (LU) 6-4
2. Bryan Hernandez Cortes/Michal Novansky (MSU) def. Vincente Monge/ Fabian Anthin (LU) 6-2*
3. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes/Marshall Landry (MSU) vs Jerry Barton/Vikas Deo (LU) 5-2, susp.
Order of finish: (1, 2*)
*Clincher

Singles:
1. No. 54 Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Leon Nickel (6-3, 6-2)*
2. No. 13 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. Maxwell Lindstedt (6-1, 6-2)
3. Rintaro Shukuda (LU)def. No. 34 Bryan Hernandez Cortes (1-6, 4-6, 4-6)
4. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes (MSU) def. Vincente Monge (6-1, 6-0)
5. Michal Novansky (MSU) def. Louis Dreapeau (LU) (6-3, 6-2)
6. Marshall Landry (MSU) def. Stefano Chappuis (6-3, 6-4)
Order of Finish: (2, 4, 1*, 5, 6, 3)
* Clincher

For more Information on the Bulldog women's tennis program, visit Hailstate.com or search for "HailstateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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