Bulldogs Begin Fall Campaign In Champaign

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., – Mississippi State men’s tennis opens its fall slate for the 2023-24 season on Monday at the ITF Champaign 15K.

The Bulldogs have three players participating in the tournament, including No. 68 Petar Jovanovic. Joining Jovanovic will be fellow sophomore Benito Sanchez Martinez and freshman Radomir Tomic.

“Benito and Pete already being a year in kind of already know what to expect,” said head coach Matt Roberts. “There’s a lot of positive things to talk about with this group. We’re just trying to stay locked in and take it one day at a time and focus on what we can control in front of us right now. We’re trying to get better one day at a time.”

MSU’s trio will begin in the qualifying round on Monday. Sanchez Martinez will start things off for the Bulldogs against American Perry Gregg at approximately noon. Sanchez Martinez had the second-most dual match singles victories (20) on the team last season and finished his freshman campaign with a 23-10 overall record.

Gregg is currently a junior at Holy Cross.

Jovanovic starts his second season off against Semen Pankin of Russia at approximately 2 p.m. Jovanovic was a member of the SEC All-Freshman team in the spring and was second on the team with 25 singles victories, including four over ranked opponents.

Pankin was also a collegiate standout at Portland, where he was named the 2023 West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Year as a graduate and the only player in Pilots’ history to be named All-WCC four times.  

Tomic will make his collegiate debut against Jeremy Zhang of Australia not before 2:30 p.m. Tomic is one of four newcomers that join State’s roster this season and takes on Zhang, who is a freshman at Illinois and will be playing on his home court.

For more information on the Bulldog men’s tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for “HailStateMT” on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.