2014-15 Men's Tennis Roster
Roster
Florian Lakat
- Height:
- 6-3
- Weight:
- 195
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Paris, France
- High School/Previous School:
- Lyc?e Sonia Delaunay
Career
Singles Record: 39-26 // 30-19 Dual Match // 11-8 SEC
Highest Singles Ranking: 36th (9/8/14)
Doubles Record: 38-28 // 27-21 Dual Match // 11-8 SEC
Highest Doubles Ranking: 6th (5/1/15)
Awards/Honors:
- All-SEC (Freshman - 2014; Second Team - 2014; First Team - 2015)
- Academic All-SEC (2014, 2015)
- SEC Freshman of the Week (1/21/14; 2/12/14; 3/5/14; 3/26/14)
- 2014 SEC Freshman of the Year
- 2014 ITA Southern Region Rookie of the Year
- 2014 NCAA Singles Championship Participant
- 2015 NCAA Doubles Championship Selection (with Julian Cash)
- 2015 NCAA Singles Championship Selection (Fourth Alternate)
- 2015 USTA/ITA Southern Regional Doubles Champion (With Julian Cash)
Singles Record: 17-11 // 14-8 Dual Match // 5-4 SEC
Highest Singles Ranking: 36th (9/8/14)
Doubles Record: 24-11 // 15-7 Dual Match // 7-2 SEC
Highest Doubles Ranking: 6th (5/1/15)
Awards/Honors:
- 2015 All-SEC First Team
- 2015 Academic All-SEC
- 2015 USTA/ITA Southern Regional Doubles Champion (With Julian Cash)
- 2015 NCAA Doubles Championship Selection (with Julian Cash)
- 2015 NCAA Singles Championship Selection (Fourth Alternate)
FALL:
- Went 3-3 in fall play, including a pair of wins against SEC foes, defeating South Carolina's Thomas Mayronne 6-4, 7-6(8) and Ole Miss' Stefan Lindmark 7-5, 1-6, 1-0(7)
SPRING:
- Named All-SEC First Team
- Started off the spring winning his first five matches, including a straight-sets win against N.C. State's No. 51 Austin Powell
- Has clinched four matches so far this year for the Bulldogs, finalizing wins against Jackson State, Alabama State, Alcorn State and Samford
- Entered the rankings for the first time in the spring on Feb. 10, coming in at No. 97
- Picked up his 25th-career singles dual match win against Nicholls State's Evan Karatzas on March 7
- With a 6-4, 6-4 win against No. 59 Beck Pennington of Kentucky on March 27, earned his 10th career ranked win
- Clinched MSU's stellar 4-2 upset of No. 6 Georgia on April 3 with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 defeat of UGA's No. 31 Austin Smith, which is also the highest ranked win for him this spring
- Has paired up with both Juan Cruz Estevarena and Julian Cash this spring
- Entered the spring ranked 23rd with Cash
- After a dominating fall, made his spring debut with Cash, picking up wins against foes from No. 55 Arkansas and Nicholls State on March 7
- The duo improved to 3-0 in SEC play with a pair of wins against foes from No. 18 Florida (March 13) and No. 39 Auburn (March 15)
- Earned their then-highest ranked win of the season with a 6-4 defeat of Texas A&M's No. 9 tandem of Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant to clinch the doubles point against the Aggies on March 20
- Picked up undoubtedly their best win of the season to date, defeating the nation's top-ranked squad of Austin Smith and Ben Wagland of Georgia, 6-4, on April 3
- Capped off the season with an 7-1 SEC record after defeating LSU's No. 23 pair of Boris Arias and Jordan Daigle, 6-4, on April 12
- Earned a career-high ITA Doubles Ranking of No. 6 with Cash on May 1
- Clinched the doubles point against No. 50 Denver in the 2015 NCAA Championship First Round, defeating DU's No. 49 Henry Craig and Alex Gasson
Singles Record: 22-15 // 16-11 Dual Match // 6-4 SEC
Highest Singles Ranking: 52nd (2/11/14)
Doubles Record: 14-17 // 12-14 Dual Match // 4-6 SEC
Awards/Honors:
- SEC Freshman of the Week (1/21/14; 2/12/14; 3/5/14; 3/26/14)
- 2014 All-SEC Freshman Team
- 2014 All-SEC Second Team
- 2014 First Year Academic All-SEC
- 2014 SEC Freshman of the Year
- 2014 ITA Southern Region Rookie of the Year
- 2014 NCAA Singles Championship Participant
FALL:
- Began his MSU career with three-straight victories, defeating SEC foes Kevin Lai (Kentucky), Boris Arias (LSU) and 32nd-ranked Nathan Pasha (Georgia) in the 2013 SEC Fall Classic, advancing to the round of 16
- Reached the round of 16 at the 2013 USTA/ITA Southern Regional Championships in doubles with teammate Tassilo Schmid after a 8-6 victory against Samford's Elliot Barnwell and Liam Sullivan
SPRING:
- Earned his first career dual match victory against Jackson State's Kashyap Ashok in a 6-3, 6-0 win. Played all matches of opening weekend at the top spot (4-0 in singles and doubles)
- Following his 4-0 performance in the opening weekend, was named SEC Freshman of the Week, the fourth Bulldog in program history to receive such an honor
- Defeated 49th-ranked Connor Glennon of Memphis, helping propel Memphis to the 2014 ITA National Team Indoors
- Earned his 10th-career win against Texas Tech's 101st-ranked Felipe Soares early in the spring in three sets
- After going 4-0 in singles and doubles against No. 69 Samford and Alcorn State, earned his second SEC Freshman of the Week honor
- Clinched both matches in MSU's opening weekend of SEC play against No. 37 Alabama and No. 31 Auburn, including a ranked win against UA's No. 75 Becker O'Shaughnessey in three sets. The wins helped propel him to his third SEC Freshman of the Week
- After collecting three wins in singles and doubles in a three-match stretch at home, he tied senior Malte Stropp's school record with his fourth SEC Freshman of the Week honor of the year
- Clinched State's final road match of the year, defeating South Carolina's Andrew Adams to give the Bulldogs a 4-1 victory against the 40th-ranked Gamecocks
- With a straight-sets win against Edgar Lopez, he clinched MSU's NCAA First Round win against No. 61 Louisiana-Lafayette
- Played predominantly with junior Tassilo Schmid in doubles play, highlighting the 11-win season with a 6-4 defeat of 46th-ranked Josh Hagar and Billy Pecor of Notre Dame
- Clinched a team-leading six matches in singles, while also pairing with Schmid to clinch a team-high nine doubles points for MSU
- Earned numerous honors for his first go-around in the Maroon and White, including SEC Freshman of the Year, All-SEC Second Team and Freshman Team and ITA Southern Region Rookie of the Year
- Earned a bid in to the 2014 NCAA Singles Championship, falling in the first round to ECU's No. 25 Joran Vliegen
Pre-Mississippi State
- Attended Lycee Sonia Delaunay prior to making his way to Starkville, Miss
- Was a stellar junior player, ranking in the top 10 of French juniors
- A winner at the 2007 European Tennis Championship, while capturing the 2nd position in 2009 at the same tournament
- Captured a high school national championship in 2013
- Competed in one future in Austria and two futures in Belgium the summer before coming to MSU
Personal
- The son of Serge and Gabriela Lakat and a native of Paris, France
- Majoring in Business while attending MSU
- When not on the tennis courts, enjoys playing basketball, listening to music and studying
- The right-hander's favorite professional player is Novak Djokovic
- Came to MSU because of his love for tennis and because of the program coach Per Nilsson has also built
