Hernandez, Malesevic Moving On At ITA Nationals

SAN DIEGO, Calif., – San Diego is said to have one of the best climates anywhere in the United States.

Mother Nature, however, reared her ugly head on the opening day of the ITA Fall National Championships on Wednesday, delaying play at the Barnes Tennis Center for over six hours.

However, the pause in play did little to damper to resolve of Mississippi State’s doubles tandem Carles Hernandez and Nemanja Malesevic. Their match was originally scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. CT start against 18^th-ranked Trent Bryde and Philip Henning of Georgia.

But despite their match being pushed back to 9:35, Hernandez and Malesevic went straight to work. The MSU duo dominated the first set 6-2 and earned a 7-5 victory in the second to post the upset over the only other SEC school to have players competing in singles and doubles at the ITA Fall National Championships.

Hernandez and Malesevic overcame six double faults and saved eight of nine break points in the straight-set sweep.

Hernandez and Malesevic move on to the Round of 16 on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT where they will face Ryan Fishback and Alberto Orso of Virginia Tech.

Malesevic’s main draw singles run at the event was spoiled earlier in the day on Wednesday. The 52^nd-ranked junior was set to take the court at 10 a.m. CT but had his match against 40^th-ranked Max Basing of Stanford delayed until 4 p.m. due to persistent morning showers.

The match between Malesevic and Basing proved to be a back-and-forth battle, just as it was when the two met in the Cambridge Regional back in May. However, it was Basing that moved on following a 6-4, 7-5 win.

Malesevic will play a singles’ consolation match against Pierce Rollins of Texas A&M on Thursday at 10:45 a.m. CT.

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

ITA Fall National Championship

Barnes Tennis Center | San Diego, Calif.

Nov. 2, 2022

Singles Round of 32

#40 Max Basing (Stanford) def. #52 Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) 6-4, 7-5

Doubles Round of 32

Carles Hernandez/Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. #18 Trent Bryde/Philip Henning (Georgia) 6-2, 7-5