Mississippi State
Santa Clara
Men’s Tennis Set To Host ITA Kickoff Weekend; Event Now Scheduled For Friday & Saturday
January 22, 2026 | Men's Tennis
Friday, January 23 at 6 p.m. CT
Starkville, Miss. | Rula Tennis Pavilion
Match 05
No. 7 Mississippi State vs Santa Clara
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STARKVILLE – No. 7 Mississippi State opens its home slate Friday afternoon as it welcomes Santa Clara to Starkville for the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Originally scheduled for Saturday, the match was moved up to Friday with State's first serve set for 6 p.m. Below is an updated schedule for the event.
Updated Kickoff Weekend Schedule
Friday, Jan. 23
3 p.m. – Alabama vs. Auburn
6 p.m. – #7 Mississippi State vs. Santa Clara
Saturday, Jan. 24
8 a.m. – Match 1
11 a.m. – Match 2
The Bulldogs enter the weekend riding momentum from a season-opening road stretch that featured four consecutive away matches, capped by their first ranked win of the year over No. 24 Illinois.
Now back on familiar courts, State looks to make the most of ITA Kickoff Weekend hosting duties for the third straight season and the seventh time overall in program history. Mississippi State owns a 17-13 all-time record in ITA Kickoff Weekend play and went 1-1 last season while hosting Pepperdine and NC State.
Historically, State has fared well against West Coast Conference opponents, owning a 6-2 all-time mark against the WCC and a perfect 2-0 record versus the league in ITA Kickoff Weekend play.
The Broncos boast an unbeaten start to the season with two victories over in-state squads, UC Davis and San Diego State. This matchup marks the first meeting between the two programs.
Along with Santa Clara, State is hosting conference foes Alabama and Auburn. Mississippi State faced both teams last season defeating Auburn at home 5-2 before heading to Tuscaloosa later in the season to down the Crimson Tide 4-3.
Mississippi State is 3-4 against conference opponents in ITA Kickoff Weekend history, including a win over Auburn. The Dawgs have never faced Alabama.
Mississippi State Notes
• Mississippi State has started the season with four consecutive road matches. They are opening their home account against the Broncos of Santa Clara in the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
• The Bulldogs are 17-13 in ITA Kickoff Weekend matches.
• State is hosting the ITA Kickoff Weekend for the third consecutive year and has hosted seven times in total. Last season, the Bulldogs hosted Pepperdine and NC State and went 1-1 on the weekend.
• Bryan Hernandez Cortes and Raphael Vaksmann are making their first career ITA Kickoff Weekend appearance on Saturday.
• 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 other school has more.
• Mississippi State is 6-2 against the WCC all-time and 2-0 versus the WCC in the ITA Kickoff Weekend
• 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.
• Mississippi State is in its 102nd season as a program amassing 1,114 wins, 644 losses, and 8 draws.
Mississippi State Record Book Watch
• Head coach Matt Roberts is tied for the second-most career wins all time as the Bulldogs' gaffer with 216 victories. He is just five wins away from overtaking Andy Jackson for the most wins all time at the helm.
•Petar Jovanovic sits at 180 career wins (singles and doubles). He trails the all-time leader, Nuno Borges by nine wins.
• Jovanovic has 85 career doubles wins, putting him one win away from Gregor Ramskogler (2018-2023) for third-most all-time. He sits just 12 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 Ramskogler's total for the for the most all-time.
• Jovanovic is tied for 6th all-time in career dual match wins with Giovanni Ordaini (2017-2021) at 110 wins. He is now one win awayfrom being tied for 5th all-time.
• Jovanovic took sole possession of 8th in career singles surpassing Giovanni Oradini's (2017-2021) total of 94. He is four wins away from jumping to 5th 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. Santa Clara
• Mississippi State and Santa Clara have never met in a competitive match.
For the most up-to-date information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU Men's Tennis on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateMT"
– HailState.com –
Players Mentioned
