STARKVILLE, Miss. – Southeastern Conference play kicked off for the No. 19 Florida with a back-and-forth affair at No. 18 Mississippi State, but the Gators came up short, 5-2, at the Rula Tennis Pavilion in a rematch of the ITA Kickoff Weekend championship match.
Forced to play indoors due to inclement weather, Florida (5-6, 0-1 SEC) was in control of doubles play early, but Mississippi State (12-1, 1-0 SEC) was able to rally back. With the Bulldogs grabbing a win on court two, Jonah Braswell/Lukas Greif equalized the doubles point on court three.
Braswell/Greif converted two break points and the biggest one came on the final service game to win the match, 6-4, over Micahl Novansky/Benito Sanchez Martinez. Less than a minute later, Mississippi State put away the doubles point with a win on court one.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 2-0 with a win on court three, but No. 73 Will Grant brought the Gators back within one. After cruising to a 6-3 first set, the junior came back against No. 107 Petar Jovanovic in the second set to force a breaker where he dominated only dropping one point to complete the victory in straights. The win is Grant’s third straight and his third over a ranked-opponent in dual play.
With the score pushed to 3-1 after a Mississippi State win on court five, Olek Orlikowski answered on court six in an absolute battle versus Gregor Ramskogler. The freshman exited the first set breaker on top, 7-6 (3), and found himself in a huge hole in the second set. Down 4-0, the native of Poland refused to back down and won six of the next eight games to force another tiebreak. Orlikowski showed no signs of backing down and completed the victory by only dropping one point in the breaker to complete the triumph in straights, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1).
On court four, No. 79 Braswell came back from down 4-2 to claim the first set over Ewen Lumsden, 7-5, but fell in the second frame 6-4. In the third set decider, the freshman battled through a leg injury, but was forced to retire down 4-0 giving Mississippi State their fourth point to clinch the victory.
Court one gave Mississippi State their fifth and final point, as No. 109 Axel Nefve played an incredibly tight match with Nemanja Malesevic, but fell 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Florida will continue its road trip with a Saturday match against No. 34 LSU in Baton Rouge on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT.
DOUBLES RESULTS
1. No. 33 Carles Hernandez/Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. No….
Forced to play indoors due to inclement weather, Florida (5-6, 0-1 SEC) was in control of doubles play early, but Mississippi State (12-1, 1-0 SEC) was able to rally back. With the Bulldogs grabbing a win on court two, Jonah Braswell/Lukas Greif equalized the doubles point on court three.
Braswell/Greif converted two break points and the biggest one came on the final service game to win the match, 6-4, over Micahl Novansky/Benito Sanchez Martinez. Less than a minute later, Mississippi State put away the doubles point with a win on court one.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 2-0 with a win on court three, but No. 73 Will Grant brought the Gators back within one. After cruising to a 6-3 first set, the junior came back against No. 107 Petar Jovanovic in the second set to force a breaker where he dominated only dropping one point to complete the victory in straights. The win is Grant’s third straight and his third over a ranked-opponent in dual play.
With the score pushed to 3-1 after a Mississippi State win on court five, Olek Orlikowski answered on court six in an absolute battle versus Gregor Ramskogler. The freshman exited the first set breaker on top, 7-6 (3), and found himself in a huge hole in the second set. Down 4-0, the native of Poland refused to back down and won six of the next eight games to force another tiebreak. Orlikowski showed no signs of backing down and completed the victory by only dropping one point in the breaker to complete the triumph in straights, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1).
On court four, No. 79 Braswell came back from down 4-2 to claim the first set over Ewen Lumsden, 7-5, but fell in the second frame 6-4. In the third set decider, the freshman battled through a leg injury, but was forced to retire down 4-0 giving Mississippi State their fourth point to clinch the victory.
Court one gave Mississippi State their fifth and final point, as No. 109 Axel Nefve played an incredibly tight match with Nemanja Malesevic, but fell 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Florida will continue its road trip with a Saturday match against No. 34 LSU in Baton Rouge on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT.
DOUBLES RESULTS
1. No. 33 Carles Hernandez/Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. No….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Florida Gators…