MSU gets historic victory over Florida to open SEC
No. 18 Mississippi State started off Southeastern Conference with a bang on Thursday, taking down 19th-ranked Florida 5-2 inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion.
The win bolstered the Bulldogs' record to 12-1 for the year and marked their second victory over a top 20 opponent this spring. It also gave MSU its first win over the Gators since the semifinals of the 2018 SEC Championships.
"Today was a little bit of the fruit of us practicing and believing in ourselves and pushing each other," MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. "We say 'sharp teeth' because of our grittiness and determination. That's just where we're at right now. It's been a lot of fun. The culture of this team right now is the best vibe we've had since the Nuno Borges teams when we won the SEC
Tournaments."
State's first win of the match was even more historic. Petar Jovanovic and Gregor Ramskogler defeated Nate Bonetto and Tanapatt Nirundorn 7-5 to push Ramskogler into the top spot in the Bulldog record book with his 61st career dual match doubles victory.
Ramskogler, a graduate from Austria, has teamed with 11 different doubles partners during his record-setting career.
"It obviously feels really, really great," Ramskogler said. "I've had a few partners along the way that were definitely part of the journey. You don't win doubles alone so shout out to all of my partners."
Florida's Jonah Braswell and Lukas Greif evened things up with their 6-4 win over Michal Novansky and Benito Sanchez Martinez meaning it would all come down to the ranked matchup on Court 1.
No. 33 Carles Hernandez and Nemanja Malesevic managed to take down 31st-ranked Will Grant and Axel Nefve 6-3 to secure the pivotal doubles point for the Bulldogs. It was the sixthstraight win for Hernandez and Malesevic as a team as well as the fifth time they've clinched a doubles point and defeated a ranked opponent this season.
"That was just huge for our doubles confidence," Roberts said. "We had three courts in a really good position to win and we were able to get two of the three. You can take that (confidence) into singles and lock in."
That seemed to be exactly what Hernandez did as the 113th-ranked singles competitor from Spain made short work of 83rd-ranked Bonetto 6-2, 6-2 to push Mississippi State's lead out to 2-0.
Sanchez Martinez later gave the Bulldogs a 3-1 advantage following his 6-4, 6-3 win over Greif before Ewen Lumsden clinched things with his 5-7, 6-3, 4-0, retired win against No. 79 Jonah Braswell.
"This was huge," Lumsden said. "It was a really close match and we wanted to win this one. We just had to stay focused and I'm so happy that I could clinch the match and get the win for us."
Malesevic added some icing on the cake as he closed out the afternoon with a 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(5) comeback win over 109th-ranked Nefve on Court 1.
The Gators (5-6, 0-1 SEC) managed to pick up points when 73rd-ranked Grant knocked off
No. 107 Jovanovic 6-3, 7-6(1) and Olek Orlikowski outlasted Ramskogler in two tiebreakers 7-6(3), 7-6(1).
MSU'S win avenged the only blemish on its record this season after falling 4-2 at Florida in the finals of ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 28. The Bulldogs will now try to extend their seven-match winning streak as they travel to their 59th-ranked instate rival Ole Miss today at 1 p.m.