Mississippi State
Florida
Bulldogs Open ITA National Team Indoor Championship Against Florida
February 12, 2026 | Men's Tennis
Friday, February 13 at 6:30 p.m. CT
Dallas, Texas | Altec/Styslinger Tennis Complex
Match 07
No. 6 Mississippi State vs No. 23 Florida
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DALLAS – No. 6 Mississippi State men's tennis will compete on one of college tennis' biggest stages this week, opening play against No. 23 Florida in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. The 16-team event held Feb. 13-17 at host sites in Dallas and Waco, Texas, features the nation's top programs and serves as an early-season national championship showcase.
The ITA National Team Indoor Championship brings together the winners of regional ITA Kickoff Weekend sites and provides a preview of the national title race, with a format similar to the NCAA Tournament. Teams compete in single-elimination dual matches, with the winner advancing through the bracket and the remaining teams playing consolation matches to determine final placement.
Mississippi State enters the championship ranked No. 6 in the ITA team rankings, while Florida sits at No. 23. The matchup renews an SEC rivalry that has spanned decades, with the Bulldogs owning a 22-41 all-time record against the Gators and a 7-5 mark in neutral-site meetings. The two teams last met at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in 2017, when Florida claimed a 4-2 victory in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Under head coach Matt Roberts, Mississippi State and Florida have met 15 times, with the Bulldogs winning six of those matchups. Every meeting during the Roberts era has featured at least one nationally ranked team.
The Bulldogs return to the ITA National Team Indoors for the first time since 2019, when they went 1-2 against three top-15 opponents in Chicago. Mississippi State's appearance this season follows a strong start to the dual-match campaign, highlighted by multiple singles sweeps and a ranked win over No. 24 Illinois.
Individually, Mississippi State features four players in the ITA singles rankings, led by No. 6 Petar Jovanovic. Mario Martinez Serrano (No. 33), Benito Sanchez Martinez (No. 45) and Bryan Hernandez Cortes (No. 68) also represent the Bulldogs in the national rankings. In doubles, Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez are ranked No. 6 nationally and return as ITA Doubles All-Americans.
Florida brings a veteran lineup to the championship, with four players ranked in singles, including No. 32 Pablo Perez Ramos, No. 43 Jeremy Jin, No. 50 Henry Jefferson and No. 54 Adhithya Ganesan. The Gators also feature one of the nation's top doubles teams in Henry Jefferson and Tanapatt Nirundorn, who are ranked No. 10 nationally.
The winner of the Mississippi State-Florida match will advance to play the winner of No. 16 Clemson vs. No. 1 Vriginia in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, while both teams are guaranteed at least three matches during the week through the tournament's consolation bracket.
Mississippi State Notes
• Mississippi State's last trip to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship came in 2019, when the Bulldogs went 1-2 against three top-15 opponents in Chicago
• Mississippi State opened the 2026 season with four consecutive road sweeps before returning home to sweep Santa Clara and Auburn at the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
• The Bulldogs hold a winning record at every singles position through the opening stretch of the season.
• Four Bulldogs — Niccolo Baroni, Petar Jovanovic, Mario Martinez Serrano and Raphael Vaksmann — are undefeated in singles play this season.
• Mississippi State earned its first ranked victory of the year with a win over No. 24 Illinois.
• Four Bulldogs are ranked in the ITA singles rankings, led by Petar Jovanovic at No. 6, the highest-ranked player in the SEC.
• Seniors Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez return as ITA Doubles All-Americans, while Jovanovic also earned ITA Singles All-American honors after reaching the NCAA Individual Championships quarterfinals.
• Mississippi State posted 25 wins in 2025, tying the 1979 team for the most single-season victories in program history.
• In 2025, Benito Sanchez Martinez set single-season program records for dual-match wins in both singles and doubles.
• Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez are the winningest doubles pair in program history, surpassing Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic by nine victories.
• The Bulldogs return eight letterwinners from last season's NCAA quarterfinal squad.
• Mississippi State is in its 102nd season as a program, with an all-time record of 1,116-644-8.
Mississippi State Record Book Watch
• Head coach Matt Roberts holds the second-most career wins all time as the Bulldogs' gaffer with 218 victories. He is just 3 wins away from overtaking Andy Jackson for the most wins all time at the helm.
•Petar Jovanovic sits at 183 career wins (singles and doubles). He trails the all-time leader, Nuno Borges by six 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 5th all-time in career dual match wins with Thomas Dupré (1995-1998) at 111 wins. He is now six win away from being tied for 4th all-time.
• Jovanovic is in sole possession of 8th for career singles with a total of 96. He is three wins away from jumping to 5th all-time.
Mississippi State in the ITA Rankings
Team Ranking – 6th
Singles
No. 6 – Petar Jovanovic
No. 33 – Mario Martinez Serrano
No. 45 – Benito Sanchez Martinez
No. 68 – Bryan Hernandez Cortes
Doubles
No. 6 - Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez
Series History vs. Florida
• Mississippi State is 22-41 all-time against the Gators.
• The Bulldogs are 7-5 against Florida on neutral courts.
• The two sides met in the ITA National Team Indoors in 2017, the Gators won the match 4-2.
• The Bulldogs and Gators have met 15 times under head coach Matt Roberts, with Mississippi State claiming six victories.
• In the Matt Roberts era, at least one team has been ranked in every Mississippi State-Florida meeting.
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"
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Players Mentioned
