Bulldogs Conclude Road Trip at Indiana

Sunday, January 18

Bloomington, Ind.

11 a.m.

Mississippi State

Indiana

Bulldogs Conclude Road Trip at Indiana

January 17, 2026 | Men's Tennis

By: Tad Couch, Athletic Communications Student Intern

Sunday, January 18 at 11 a.m. CT
Bloomington, Ind. | IU Tennis Center
Match 04
No. 7 Mississippi State at Indiana
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Mississippi State's trip to Bloomington marks the final match of a four-dual road stretch to open the season. The Bulldogs will face Indiana for the first time in program history, closing a challenging opening slate away from home.
State enters the matchup riding momentum after earning a ranked road victory at No. 24 Illinois. Benito Sanchez Martinez highlighted the win with a three-set triumph over No. 10 Kenta Miyoshi, while Mario Martinez Serrano added a ranked result of his own with a victory over No. 87 Adam Jilly.
Indiana opened its spring campaign with a pair of dominant 7-0 home wins over Butler and Ball State. The Hoosiers' meeting with Mississippi State will be their final home contest before traveling to Charlottesville, Virginia, for ITA Kickoff Weekend.

Mississippi State Notes
• Mississippi State picked up its first ranked win of the season over No. 24 Illinois
• Five Bulldogs are represented in the ITA singles rankings, no school has more.
•  Mississippi State opened the spring with back-to-back wins in Dallas, defeating SMU and Lamar to start the year 2–0.
• Seniors Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez return as ITA Doubles All-Americans. Jovanovic also earned ITA Singles All-American honors after reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Individual Championships.
• Mississippi State reached 25 wins during their 2025 campaign tied with the 1979 team for the most single-season victories in program history.
• The Bulldogs enter the match ranked No. 7 in the ITA preseason rankings, marking their fourth straight season inside the ITA Top 25 to open the year.
• In 2025, Benito Sanchez Martinez set the single season record for the most dual match wins in both singles and doubles.
• As a pair, Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez are the winningest doubles pair in school history, surpassing Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic by nine victories.
• Mississippi State returns eight letterwinners from last season's NCAA quarterfinal squad.
• Last year the Bulldogs owned the doubles point in dual matches. State won the doubles point in 27 of their 30 matches and had a season-long streak of 17 straight doubles points won from Feb. 2 through April 11. . In SEC play, MSU won the doubles point in 13 of the 14 matches, and both doubles points in the SEC tournament. State opens the 2026 campaign having won five consecutive doubles points dating back to April 18, 2025.
• In Mississippi State's season-opening doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 10, every Bulldog earned at least one win in singles or doubles.
• Mississippi State is in its 102nd season as a program amassing 1,113 wins, 644 losses, and 8 draws.

Mississippi State Record Book Watch
• Head coach, Matt Roberts is one win away from tying Tom Sawyer (1949-68) for second-most career wins all time with 216 victories and six wins shy of being the winningest head coach in program history surpassing Andy Jackson's (1989-2001) 220 win total.
• Petar Jovanovic sits at 179 career victories and has taken sole possession of 2^nd  for the most career wins in program history behind Bulldog legend Nuno Borges' (2019) 189 wins.
• Jovanovic has 86 career doubles wins, tying him with Gregor Ramskogler (2018-2023) for third-most all-time. He sits just 11 wins away from Laurent Miquelard's (1992-95) total of 97.
• Jovanovic currently has 55 career dual match doubles wins. He is just 10 wins away from breaking Gregor Ramskogler's total for the for the most all-time.
• Jovanovic moved up to 6^th all-time in career dual match wins. He is now one win away from 5^th all-time.
• Jovanovic took sole possession of 8^th in career singles surpassing Giovanni Oradini's (2017-2021) total of 94. He is four wins away from jumping to 5^th all-time.

Mississippi State In The ITA Rankings
Team Ranking – 7th
Singles
No. 13 – Petar Jovanovic
No. 34 – Bryan Hernandez Cortes
No. 37 – Mario Martinez Serrano
No. 54 – Benito Sanchez Martinez
No. 125 – Raphael Vaksmann
Doubles
No. 2 - Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez

Series History vs. Indiana
• Mississippi State and Indiana have never met in a competitive match.


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